Berliner Blag

Die Kleine Stadt

2010-08-29T08:24:00.001-07:00

Check out this tilt-shift video of Berlin looking like a leetle toy city:

Latest Flickr Upload

2010-08-11T12:07:00.000-07:00

Just added a buncha new pics to my flickr, including some nice ones of some of Berlin's famous landmarks during the Festival of Lights waaay back when I first got to Berlin.
Go check it out!

Kunsthaus Tacheles

2010-08-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

Imagine my surprise to open up the NY Times today and find an article about Berlin's Kunsthaus Tacheles!
The article makes the point, using Tacheles' imminent downfall as an example, that Berlin is slowly being sanitized and stripped of all the gritty alternativism that makes it so great, a fact I have myself lamented in this blog. While in Berlin, people often pointed out to me that Berlin is a complete island in Germany--no other city in Germany is at all similar. Berlin is a kind of fluke in the German cultural landscape, and now that it's the capital city, the rest of Germany is seeping into it. A local artist is quoted as saying, "These Bonn people [i.e. the federal government] want a peaceful city, and it just doesn’t work. On the one hand they want to be the cultural capital, but on the other hand they knock everything down that contributes to that."
Yup, pretty much.
Another of the people interviewed compares the cleaning up of Berlin to that of New York. While still undeniably vibrant artistically, NY is in my experience more smoothed over and institutionalized than Berlin--at least for now.
Undoubtedly these things go in cycles. Berlin's been happening recently. It can't last forever, unfortunately. That kind of creative atmosphere, as I noted recently in a post on antlervision about Detroit, can only thrive when bureaucracy and authority aren't paying too close attention. Eventually, they try to regulate it and it falls apart.
I wonder what city will be the next big thing?

What I'll Miss

2010-08-09T02:36:00.000-07:00

Obviously there are a million billion things I am going to miss about life in Berlin, but here's an attempt at a list.

1. Plentiful Delicious Falafel
Berlin is the first place I had really really awesome falafel...and now I'm addicted. I already made a post about my top 5 falafel places in Berlin, so go check that out for more details. Main point is that I can't even think of 5 decent falafel places round these parts, much less have trouble narrowing down a top 5. Sigh.

2. Good Beer, and Cheap

Cheapness is a major factor in things I will miss in Berlin, and beer is no exception. The variety pictured above is one of the cheapest beers available, our beloved Sterny, or Sternburg. That bottle you see in the picture is .5L and costs 65 euro cents. Swoon! We even knew a place where you could get 'em for 55 cents each, and buying a case at Kaufland was even cheaper. This beer is far superior to the cheapest beer brands in the US (Natty Ice comes to mind) and costs less. I'll have to drown my sorrow with Hamm's.

3. Adjustable Windows
In most apartments and offices in Berlin, at least in my experience, they have these nifty adjustable windows. You can open it just a crack by tilting it open at the top, or open it sideways all the way. Even our big balcony door functioned this way. It was a great way to get some air flow without freezing, or to air out a kitchen when cooking, or whatever. I found myself wondering why all windows aren't so elegantly engineered. I've never seen such a window stateside.

4. Less Stress
Coming from New York, I'm used to a somewhat frenetic atmosphere in large cities. That was why the calm pace of Berlin was a nice change. Even though it's the capital and has a population of approximately 3 million, Berlin is super chill. My office started work pretty late in the morning, by American standards. Though I lamented shops being closed on Sundays, it was kind of nice to be able to truly relax--knowing that nothing was open anyway, so no point in getting all fussed. Despite the German reputation for rigid efficiency, they, like all Europeans it seems, know how to take a break way better than the Americans.

5. Our Balcony
Our corner balcony with its view of Neukölln rooftops and the Rathaus Neukölln made me so so happy.

It seemed that many more Berlin apartments had balconies than is common in large US cities.

6. Things in Tubes
An aspect to grocery shopping in Berlin that I at first found hilarious (see the picture at the end of this entry), I soon came to appreciate the wisdom of having mustard, mayo, ketchup etc. in toothpaste tubes. Cheese and caviar though? Still really weird.

7. The Stadtbad
Berlin has tons of public pools. Our local one in Neukölln was super sweet, with soaring columns, pretty mosaics of people in togas, and even great statuary:

One visit only cost 2.5eur. It was a great way to get in some exercise in the cold winter months, even though Germans don't seem to believe in proper lap swimming.

8. Prepackaged Hard-Boiled Eggs
No matter what time of year (Easter or otherwise) one can always find packages of colorfully dyed hard-boiled eggs in the supermarket, and hard-boiled eggs can usually be found at bakeries at well. This was extremely convenient. I love hard-boiled eggs. I ate one for breakfast every morning before work and didn't ever have to bother boiling water. I'm surprised that I can't seem to find this in the US, land of convenience, but there you are.

9. Bakeries
1eur sandwiches? Delicious fresh-baked bread? Incredible pastries for a euro or two? On nearly every street? NOMNOMNOMNOM

10. Bread
European bread just tastes better somehow. It's more often and more easily available in fresh-baked form. And in Germany, they have all these wonderful dark breads with seeds. My favorite was pumpkin-seed bread. So much more tasty than gross American white bread *shudders*.

11. Mini Liquors
Late at night? Need a pick-me-up? Don't worry about finding a liquor store or what time of night it is. Every little Spätkauf will have a selection of miniature liquor bottles for your convenience, as well as beer and often wine. Go forth and party! And remember...

12. You Can Drink on the Street
And on the U-Bahn. 'Nuff said.

13. Cheap cheap cheap
My day-to-day expenses were waaaay cheaper than in the US. Rent, food, and alcohol have, I believe, been mentioned. There were also cheaper toiletries that I liked better than all the fancy brands here. Now buying bodywash is such a trial. Numerous brands with bewildering lists of ingredients and uses, with nothing less than 6USD. In Berlin I would buy a big bottle of 1.5eur drugstore-brand exfoliating bodywash and call it good. Le sigh.

14. Staying Out Late
Berlin is the true "city that never sleeps." NY almost never goes til dawn in my experience...unless you're super rich. But in Berlin any night out routinely can, and will, go on well into the next day. No need to stop the fun. The city keeps going and so can you. I'll never forget the time I was awakened by my roomie at 8am calling me to say, "We're going to Poland! Wanna come?" I had left him at a party sometime during the previous night and he was still going. Priceless.

15. Markets
I miss the Turkish Market so damn much. Bountiful fresh produce, cheap!, plus fabric, jewelry making supplies, shoes, clothes, household goods, anything you might need really. So simple and easy. Love it. And then there was the Mauerpark--huge flea market/crafts market/karaoke sesh every Sunday. Why ever shop in a store again?

16. The U-Bahn
This one rings even more true now that I've spent a few weeks on the NY subway system. When standing on a hot, sweaty, dirty platform with no clue when or if my train will come and if it will go to the places I expect it to, how I miss Berlin's clean, efficient and reliable transport system and the little signs telling you how many minutes til the next train. NY needs to take a page out of Berlin's book on this one.

17. Bike Lanes Everywhere
Berlin is easily navigable by bike. This was a plus considering there was no way I was going to drive on those crazy roads and with those gas prices. Plus it's so much nicer to fly through the open air than to ride the underground trains in the dark--at least when it's above freezing outside. I most definitely will not miss the bike cops though.

18. Picturesque Cobblestone Streets
In my neighborhood in Brooklyn, which is a designated "historic district," there are two blocks of cobblestones that everyone swoons over. Well in Berlin it's par for the course--as are shady trees and genteel old buildings. For a history lover and art historian, it was paradise to find such a large city to be so aesthetically pleasing.

19. Seasonal Produce
This might seem like a weird one, but I kinda liked how not everything is available all the time. In the US the supermarkets are always stocked with everything, and while this may seem advantageous, it disconnects you from reality in that what you are eating has no connection whatsoever with what's local and what's in season. Whereas in Berlin, shopping at a combination of Kaufland and the Turkish Market, I really noticed and took advantage of the changing of the seasons. In spring, I grabbed a bagful of fresh peas, and they were the best peas I'd ever had. In the middle of winter, I embraced root vegetables. Etc. I really liked that connection to the earth and to actual growing cycles.

20. Cheap and Plentiful Concerts
I can't even count the number of amazing concerts I saw of bands I love that cost me less than 30eur. It seems that every band on earth comes through Berlin at some point or other and when they do, they charge a much smaller amount than they would in the US (at least the bands I was interested in). I saw The Mountain Goats, Thao and the Get Down Stay Down, Vampire Weekend, Spoon, Yeasayer, Camera Obscura, Passion Pit, Grizzly Bear, Owl City (man did I get crap for that, haha) and much more, and usually in tiny venues where you can get right up close and even sometimes meet the performers after the show. It was teh sweetness. I will miss that a lot.

21. Diversity
At any given party, you will hear at least 3 or 4 languages being spoken at a time. You get to meet people from all over the world every single day. People think NY is a melting pot? Ha! I found Berlin's diversity to be much more obvious and integrated than in the States. It was great meeting so many different people from such diverse places and backgrounds at every turn.

So there you have it. Many more items than on the "won't miss" list! So much to love about Berlin and, frankly, living abroad in general. I hope I have another chance at it someday.

What I Won't Miss

2010-08-06T11:00:00.000-07:00

Now that's it's been a few months since I returned from Berlin and I've finally settled down somewhat after many, many travels, I'm finally getting around to wrapping up this blog with the finished versions of all the half-written posts I promised! To get the negativity out of the way first, I'll start with the things I will not miss about life in Berlin, then move on to greener pastures.
1. Shelf Toilets

I first saw these little gems on a British TV show called "You Are What You Eat" in which the dictator-like healthy eating expert examines the show participant's poo to assess the healthiness of their diets. She explains that they have to use her bathroom with her "German toilet" which has a convenient little shelf that the...um...expulsions fall on so that they can be more easily examined. I figured this was pretty much made up for the show or at least extremely rare so imagine my surprise when there actually was one in my Berlin office. It's pretty embarrassing to go to the bathroom in the office and have everyone know you just did number 2 because the toilet is engineered to leave the poo out in the air until it is flushed away, thus causing a widespread and strong odor to suffuse the bathroom. It's even more embarrassing to have this occur when you are a guest in someone else's home, as happened with the friend I stayed with for a few days in Vienna. Now I have seen many theories as to why these toilets were ever invented, including: wanting to examine one's feces (what?!? surely not. except in the case of the British health expert) or some kind of sick desire for Schadenfreude (a German word meaning pleasure derived from the misfortune of others--I think this explanation is really more of an expat joke than anything plausible). The most widely accepted, however, is the prevention of "splashback." I ask you, is that really worth the (sizeable) discomforts that this toilet brings?!? I'm pretty glad that I won't be finding these in my next place of employment in the US.

2. Cigarettes EVERYWHERE
While many people complained when smoking was banned from inside bars and restaurants in New York City, as a non-smoker and someone who absolutely abhors the smell of smoke, I pretty quickly got used to going out without having to spend the evening breathing in other people's cancer sticks. So you can imagine how much I enjoyed the smokehouse that is every bar or club in Berlin. Sometimes it was so bad that I had trouble breathing and/or developed a headache. But most of the time it didn't bother me too much until I woke up the next morning and realized that everything I had been wearing, and my hair, completely stank stank stank of cigarette smoke. Every time I went out. Even just to a friend's house. Yuck.

3. Closed on Sundays
I was shocked to find that all supermarkets, and most other shops, are closed in Germany on Sundays. Berlin is not some small provincial town, it's the freakin capital city for goodness' sake, but even so there is only one supermarket in the whole city that is a) open on Sundays b) open on public holidays and c) open 24 hours. Coming from a city where I can get diner food, fresh-baked bagels and yes, groceries at all hours of the day or night, no matter the day of the week (and that's within walking distance of my house in Brooklyn, never mind the 24hr playground that is Manhattan), this was kind of jarring. It was absolutely the pits to wake up on a Sunday and realize that unless you wanted to go all the way to Friedrichstrasse, you had no groceries until Monday. This threw a wrench in my eating plans many a time, especially the one memorable occasion when we invited all our friends to a balcony barbecue only to realize we had no means of getting the supplies. Thus we ended up carrying all the groceries and a case of beer home from Friedrichstrasse. Good times. Anyway, for a civilized nation to dictate supermarket opening times based on one religion's traditions is to my mind absurd. Wake up and smell the coffee on this one, Deutschland.

4. Rampant Public Nudity
Ok, perhaps 'rampant' is a strong word, and I hate to admit to my discomfort with naked strangers, but there it is. My country was founded by Puritans, etc. So I was a bit taken aback the first time I went into the changing room at my gym and found butt-naked people acting like it weren't no thang. This also occurred at the public pool, where there were no partitions in the showers, so I just had to suck it up and join in the party--but at least I wrapped a towel around myself when I left the shower area. Now I'm fine with seeing someone's tatas or booty when they're quickly changing or whatever, but to have full-frontal assault for the entirety of my changing room experience (please don't bend over please don't bend over aaaaaah did not need to see that!!!) was a bit much. You know that awkward moment when you open a door and someone else is on the other side, trying to open it from that side? Imagine how much this is magnified when the someone on the other side is a grinning, toothless, extremely old women with her large, liver-spotted breasts and other attributes just hangin out for all to see. Wow. Try to get that image out of your head. I know I can't.

5. Bureaucracy and Rules and Feeling Paranoid
There's a lot of freakin rules in Germany. I have problems enough with authority figures as it is, and when they're barking at me in German, and acting like I'm an idiot because I maybe don't understand every single word they say in a language to which I am not native, it really rubs me the wrong way. You all read my post about the police breaking into our party and acting like total assholes. I don't recall if I wrote about the time I got "caught" riding the U-Bahn without a valid ticket (it's called schwarzfahren, or 'riding black'), but I'll recap: I got caught, not without a ticket, but with the wrong kind of ticket, and when I tried to explain that I'm a foreigner and misunderstood they would have none of it. I had to go in to the BVG office. So I woke up early the next morning to tramp through the snow to do so. On the way I figured I had better buy a single ride ticket. Haha, how silly would it be to get caught on the way to paying a fine? But since I was used to my monthly ticket, which doesn't require validation, I forgot to validate my single ticket. Bam! Nailed, by the same bitch-tastic woman who got me the first time. I immediately burst into tears (it was freakin early and cold and this was ridiculous), but she wouldn't even look at me. I waved the ticket from the day before at her. "Don't you remember me? You gave this to me yesterday. I'm on my way to pay it. I have a clearly newly printed single ticket that I simply forgot to validate. Do you really think I would be so stupid as to not have a valid ticket on the same train at the same time as when I got caught yesterday?!?" Her response was to hold out her hand and ask for my ID again. Can we say BITCH? So I had to go in again the next day and talk myself out of the second fine. The result of encounters of this kind was that even though I was doing my absolute best to be legal in Germany (for instance, I actually registered and de-registered like I was supposed to, unlike many of the expats I knew), I still felt extremely paranoid every time I saw a cop or cop car. I would immediately check over what I was doing to make sure nothing could be construed as illegal, but still felt extremely nervous. Cops don't make me react that way in the States. Something about German rules and bureaucracy was just really kind of scary for a foreigner.

6. Lack of Spice
But for something more lighthearted. I've written about this before, but it had to be on this list: there is patently NO spice to be found in German restaurants. Even Asian places make their food to German taste, meaning no spicy for you. Additionally it is near-impossible to find acceptable Mexican food, even in Berlin. Note to Northern Europe: creme fraiche is NOT an ingredient in guacamole. Having said this, I've realized in the months since my departure that I actually miss one of the two Mexican restaurants I found in Berlin. At first I thought of Dolores as a Chipotle substitute, but I ended up liking it sooo much better than Chipotle. Their mole tofu and spicy-hot habañero sauce was far superior. How's that for irony?

Stay tuned for the more positive aspects of Berlin life!

Wieder in Berlin

2010-05-30T03:08:00.001-07:00

28 days
22 trains
13 cities, and
8 countries later, I am back in Berlin for the last time in the foreseeable future.
In two days time I close this chapter of my life and return to the States indefinitely. Wah!
I have many half-written posts on Berlin delights and many still to write on the places I visited in Europe this past month so those will be posted retroactively in the coming months.
In the meantime, I leave you with the winning song from last night's Eurovision song contest from, you guessed it, Deutschland! I was watching in a living room in sweden :) Here's "Satellite" by Lena:

Bis bald,
D.

PS. I picked up some new vocabulary in Austria and Switzerland...
trinkfest: able to hold one's liquor. A handy one-word description!
Klugscheiss: wise-ass, literally "wise shit."
Filmriß: blackout...literally, 'film rip', a rip in the film of your evening! I think that's so clever.

Travels Week 1: Praha

2010-05-11T11:56:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday night I hopped an overnight bus to Prague to begin a month of travel around Europe with an Interrail pass. The pass is like a Eurail pass, but a cheaper version available to people who both have European citizenship and have resided in the EU for six months or more. It covers unlimited rail travel in 30 European countries, excluding your country of residence. With a 22-day pass bracketed by a bus journey to start and a flight home to end, I was set for a crazy 30 days of travel! Rather than give a blow-by-blow of my days, I'm just going to try and jot down some of what I learned in each place.
So: Prague!
Every guidebook I read recommended checking out the Charles Bridge at dawn, to avoid the crowds. Since I arrived at 4:30am, I figured I might as well take that advice. It was really nice having the bridge to myself, but I have to say that an empty Old Town Square, streetlamps still blazing in the dawning light, was more impressive to me, at least relative to their respective daytime appearances.
On my first day I went straight to the castle and have to caution: do NOT pay for the all-inclusive ticket and audio guide! I didn't have the exchange rate straight in my head and when I realized later what I had spent on that, I kicked myself. Instead, if you have a limited time in Prague like I did, start with a free tour around Old and New Town and then take the optional paid tour with the same company that continues to the other side of the river and the castle. I wish I had done it that way. The paid tour cost less than half what I paid for the stupid audio guide.
Prague is a great city for walking, I recommend just strolling with your eyes wide open and you'll make lots of discoveries, like I did.
I also ate some traditional Czech food, and can highly recommend pickled cheese with your beer (mmmm). I also tried a beef dish in gravy, which came with what they call 'dumplings' but which actually seemed more like slices of bread to me. I reeeally wish I had tried fried cheese, another Czech specialty, and their traditional onion and garlic soups.
I wanted to check out the synagogue converted into a Holocaust memorial, but you can't buy a ticket to that without buying a ticket to all the other sites in the Jewish quarter. Because it covers so many sites, the ticket is pricey, and I only had time for the one museum, so I didn't end up getting it. It's a weird system...had I known in advance, I could have planned to make the ticket worth it, time-wise, but I wasn't able to. Something for a future visit.
The Kampa Museum was cool and I loved the little island-park it's located in. It was being renovated when I was there, so when the renovations are done it will be even better. I learned about a few Czech artists I hadn't known before, and even encountered one of them at some Viennese museums in the days following. I didn't get to make it to the new DOX contemporary art center, unfortunately, nor did I see the Mucha/Dali exhibit in Old Town Square.
What with lack of sleep, it being the first few days of my trip, and a totally incomprehensible language and currency to deal with, I think I was a little loopy and didn't make the most of my two days in Prague. I really want to go back someday! My host did teach me how to make sushi though. That I will always remember.
I've got to dash but stay tuned for more updates as I have time.
Bis bald,
D.

Der Wortschatz

2010-04-30T07:28:00.000-07:00

There's a story in the news today about a man getting fined 14,000eur for jumping into a pool. But it wasn't just a normal jump: it was an Arschbombe. Yes, the German word for cannonball is Arschbombe, or 'ass-bomb'. Priceless! In the past months I've learned some other great tidbits of vocabulary, such as:
Handschuhe: the word for gloves translates literally as "hand shoes."
Pickel: not the word for pickle. This means "pimple." I first heard it when watching a German movie about teenagers in Kreuzberg. I assumed at first that it was a slang word for male genitalia, but soon realized from the context--a guy was happy that his "pickel" was getting smaller--that it had to be something else!
Partymaus: literally 'party mouse', this is the equivalent of party animal. I don't really understand how mice got the reputation of being hardcore partiers, haha.
aufmotzen: I encountered this word while watching MTV in English with German subtitles at the gym, a very handy way of learning interesting vocab. In Pimp my Ride, this is the translation of 'to pimp.' At first I thought it was derived from Mütze, which means cap or bonnet. I figured putting a cap on something could kind of be a synonym for pimpin it out. But according to Leo, the online dictionary that probably should have been on my useful websites list, 'aufmotzen' means 'to start something up', which is a much less imaginative translation.
Balkon: one night at the Weinerei a drunk old guy came up and chatted to us for a while and when he walked away, he slyly smiled and complimented my 'Balkon' or 'balcony'. I was wearing a low-cut top at the time (I didn't realize it was that low!) so we surmised that this is a slang word for boobies. hahaha.
verlaufen: this is a recent one. My friend was making a frozen pizza in my oven and I checked the label for the cooking instructions. You're supposed to heat it until the cheese is "gut verlaufen": 'running well'. That made me smile.
I feel sad that I am leaving right when I am just starting to get jokes in German and understand more of the subtleties of what's happening around me linguistically every day. When I visited the US I was kind of relieved to be able to communicate easily with the people I encountered--bartenders, grocery store cashiers, etc--but I also really missed the thrill of having even the most everyday task be a bit of a challenge. Living in a place where you don't speak the language fluently makes every day an adventure and an opportunity to learn, and it's so gratifying when you make progress or are able to get through a whole encounter without the other person realizing you're a foreigner. I don't know if I'll ever live in Germany again, but I hope I'll live in a foreign country again sometime. The daily challenge is fun and exciting.
Tomorrow is May Day and it's going to be nuts!
Bis bald,
D.

Hilfreiche Websites

2010-04-26T01:59:00.000-07:00

Since one of the first things I did to prepare for Berlin was look for expat blogs with useful information, I'm attempting in my last days in Berlin to share some of the things that I've discovered here. Obviously the internet is a major resource when moving to or even visiting a new city/country, and it saved me a couple of times when I first got to Germany. For instance, I found my apartment through Berlin craigslist, which has posts in both English and German. Here's a list of some other websites that are good to know in Berlin/Germany:

WG-Gesucht
When looking for a sublet in Berlin, this is a good website to look on. It's got tons of postings for WGs (Wohngemeinschafts, living communities). It's probably best if you speak some German when using this site--most of the postings are in German or from German people.

Koka
Konzert-Kasse 36 is a ticket office for most any music event you could want to go to in Berlin. I found their listings invaluable for deciding which concerts I would want to go to. And you can't beat Berlin concert prices...usually around 12-20eur for indie bands and DJs!

Mitfahrgelegenheit
The name of this site means "rideshare opportunity." You put in your date of travel, origin, and destination, and it returns a list of rides or shared train tickets going that route on that day. Then just pick and choose. It's the cheapest way to get from city to city in Germany, because the train tickets are surprisingly expensive. Like WG Gesucht, some German comes in handy. Though it sounds like it could be sketchy, I've used it quite a bit with only one bad experience (nothing scary...just my ride didn't show up!).

Qype
This is just like Yelp (user-generated restaurant reviews and recommendations), but for all of Europe. I love Yelp, so I've had a lot of fun using and contributing to Qype, which is newer and not as comprehensive. Check out my reviews!

The Local
The sub-heading on this website is "Germany's news in English," but they provide more than German news stories in German--they also have movie and event listings and a great series called "Making it in Germany", my favorite of which was about the woman who opened Cupcake, Berlin's first cupcake shop.

Toytown
This is an English language forum in association with The Local that has discussions of current events, listings for expat meetups, parties, etc., recommendations of restaurants and such, and lots of advice for expats in Germany--for instance, I found information about medical care, insurance, and dealing with German bureaucracy. A really good resource!

So there you have it...maybe not so interesting, but definitely useful :)
Bis bald,
D.

Globalization

2010-04-19T03:33:00.000-07:00

I saw an interesting article in the NYT today about how globalization is and is not affecting cultural differentiation.
The author, Michael Kimmelman, who has moved from New York to Berlin just like yours truly, writes, "far from succumbing to some devouring juggernaut, culture — and Europe, with its different communities and nations living cheek by jowl, is a Petri dish to prove the point — has only atomized lately as a consequence of the very same globalizing forces that purportedly threaten to homogenize everything."
I was just talking the other day about globalization and how regrettable it is that American models of consumerism are steadily creeping into Europe. But Kimmelman would seem to disagree:
"Nationalism, regionalism and tribalism are all on the rise. Societies are splitting even as they share more common goods and attributes than ever before. Culture is increasingly an instrument to divide and differentiate communities. And the leveling pressures of globalization have at the same time provided more and more people with the technological resources to decide for themselves, culturally speaking, who they are and how they choose to be known, seen, distinguished from others...Culture means many things in this context, but at heart it is a suite of traits we inherit and also choose to disavow or to stress...Anyone may now pick through the marketplace of global culture."
Essentially he argues that the more there is a common denominator in society, the more people will try to distinguish themselves from it, to attach themselves to different "tribal" identities.
Discussing particularly his transition from New York to Berlin, he mentions that one of the first things he noticed was the proliferation of bookstores in Berlin, more than he had been used to noticing in other cities. This, he discovered, stemmed from a conscious effort in Germany to restore "civilization" after the war by supporting an "ecosystem" of small publishers and booksellers. Regarding this episode, he concludes:
"So what was to me as a clueless foreigner an urban curiosity, noticeable just because it wasn’t my usual experience — it was for me a cultural rift or rupture — ended up suggesting some larger truth about the country’s history and ambition. Culture is something we propagate but also something naturally there, existing in and around us, which makes us who we are but which may rise to the level of our consciousness only when one of those ruptures or rifts appear — when some little psychic clash happens between it and our more or less unconscious sense of the everyday world."
Very interesting thoughts. For all that I complain about "globalization" meaning there's a McDonald's on every corner, that doesn't change the fact that while I might call it 'Mickey D's', my Australian flatmate calls it 'Mackers' or that the concept of McCafé, a classier coffeeshop-style McDonald's, is way more popular in Europe than in the US. Even the universal symbol of globalization, McDonald's, is differentiated culturally, so we shouldn't lose hope in cultural differentiation. While the internet and multinational corporations may have changed the scope of cultural identity, they have not by any means obliterated it. Thus I am able to write mildly amusing blogposts about the many subtle (and not so subtle) cultural differences between the US and Germany!
Bis bald,
D.

My Top 5 Falafel in Berlin

2010-04-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

Berlin's culinary scene is remarkable for many reasons, one of which is the plentiful abundance of falafel and other vegetarian delights, most for super cheap. Not all falafel was created equal, however...the Imbiß (snack stand) on our street for example reheats frozen falafel in the microwave and serves it in too-thick bread with lackluster veggies. This is all too common at your standard snack stand, which is what makes it so exciting to find truly top-quality falafel, and I seek it out all the time. Thus I present to you my five favorite falafel places in Berlin! All of these places cost 2.5 or 3eur for a falafel sandwich, the standard price for above-standard quality :)

1. Nil
This place serves "sudanese style" falafel which means, as far as I can tell, that they add peanut sauce to the usual falafel-bread-veggies equation. But it has earned the top spot because I don't think I will ever forget the feeling of first biting into that hot, crispy falafel. There was something about the über-crispy outside of the falafel balls that just tasted so above and beyond regular falafel stands. The peanut sauce added some nice dimension and the pita and veggies were good quality as well. A+

2. Dada Falafel
I was told by a friend before I arrived in Berlin that this place was "widely considered the best falafel in town," but hadn't tried it until recently. O the error of my ways! It was truly smashing, with three kinds of delicious sauces including hummus, fresh falafel, and lovely fresh veggies. Scrumptious. The hip decor and music don't hurt either.

3. King of Falafel
This little hole in the wall is another recent discovery and earns a high place on the list not just because of deliciousness but because of the obvious care they put into making their product. I stepped up to the window and ordered, then spent an enjoyable 15-20min (it was worth the wait) watching the man carefully scoop out mashed chickpeas and shape it into balls, then while it was frying, lovingly build a pile of carefully placed veggies and hummus on thin pita. When the falafel balls were done, he arranged them just so and wrapped it all up burrito-style with an expert hand. Watching him make it was half the fun, but man was that falafel wrap delicious. Lucikly this one's actually near my house, so I can return frequently.

4. Maroush
I should kind of try this place sober before I put it at #4, but what the heck. It always fills me up good when I happen to be hungry and in the vicinity of Oranienstrasse late at night. Quality stuff and friendly service. Plus I like chillin at their outdoor picnic tables when it's warm enough. Good times.

5. Luxa
People rag on this place, but I have a certain affection for it since it fed my oddly timed jet lagged tummy when I first arrived in Berlin and was staying around the corner. I've never had a bad sandwich here--in my experience the falafel is fresh, as are the veggies, and wrapped up in a pita pocket with delectable sesame sauce it's pretty gosh darn tasty. It's clean and has modern decor and plenty of seating, plus I've met some colorful local characters. For my money it's a keeper.

*Honorable Mention* Mustafa's Gemüse Kebap
Ok so this isn't technically falafel but in the realm of delicious veggie sandwiches it's definitely an amazing variation. Basically they fry up a bunch of veggies (potatoes, zucchini, peppers etc) with seasoning and then pile it into some bread with salad-y topping just like on a falafel or schwarma. They then add a sprinkling of crumbly feta and some lemon juice. And the result is nothing short of divine. I regret the number of times I went to Curry 36, the famous currywurst place just down the street, instead of trying this gem. Now it is a favorite. A must-try for the veggie enthusiast in Berlin! They also have a chicken version for all you carnivores.

So there you have it. Stay tuned for more Berlin "best of" lists from yours truly.
Bis bald,
D.

Berlinische Galerie

2010-04-12T09:59:00.000-07:00

Today I biked up to Mitte to try one of Berlin's many famous falafel joints, Dada Falafel. It earned a place in my top five falafel list, coming soon to a blogpost near you.
Afterwards, after a stop to pore over some travel books at a store that carries English books, I headed to the Jewish Museum, which I surprisingly have not been to yet. As I approached the museum, I hopped onto the sidewalk, still riding my bike, in search of somewhere to park it near the museum's entrance. Two surly cops milling around outside the museum did not like this. They scowled and stood in my way while pointing vigorously at the street, with cars whizzing by at their customary death speed. I got off my bike, smiled and told them I was headed to the museum, uselessly indicating the entrance about 20 feet along the sidewalk, but the cop just glared at me and growled that that didn't matter, I should have stayed on the road instead of presuming to bike for 50 feet on the completely unoccupied sidewalk. No wonder Germans always follow the rules. If they don't, some asshole cop won't wait a moment to get all up in their grill. Don't they have better things to do then be mean to people about absurdly minor traffic violations? Sheesh.
After that encounter I was in no mood to face the huge crowd of noisy French schoolchildren totally dominating the Jewish Museum entranceway so I decided to pop around the corner to the Berlinische Galerie instead. And it was awesome!
On the way there were signposts with art-related quotes such as "Farben muß gesehen werden!" (Colors must be seen!) from Walter Benjamin and "Denken ist Form" (Thinking is form) from Joseph Beuys.
When I got there I discovered that they are between special exhibitions, but the permanent collection was more than enough to divert me!
This confronted me in the first room:

Raimund Kummer, Eyecatcher 1994.
I approached it from behind so did not at first realize it was an eye...when I spotted the placard I was delighted by the clever wordplay of the title. And it was certainly eye-catching!
The next piece that caught my attention was a sound installation by Carston Eggers in which small, unobtrusive loudspeakers had been installed down the sides of the main gallery's central staircase which intermittently played a recording of a ping pong ball falling down stairs. The little info blurb hit it bang on the nose by saying, "A double irritation is generated; we not only hear a surprising noise, we are unable to identify its source." I smiled when I realized the sound I was hearing was an art piece.
The auditorium is currently jam-packed with student work from a secondary school in Prenzlauer-Berg and every other piece was interesting. From a piece documenting a student's daily eating habits with flattened food wrappers hung in labelled ziploc bags to a coffee table made from a worn gold picture frame with strings stretched across it, I was really impressed. That was a fun room.
I was thrilled to finally see Steve Johnson's Pedestrian Island No. 5:

which I had seen in the Lange Nacht der Museen catalogue but couldn't figure out what museum to see it in.
Sarah Schönfeld's "genius loci_landscapes" series was really interesting.

"The strange landscapes are nothing more than the edges of carpets, landings, lift doors etc. The poetry of the everyday."
Upstairs with the older works, I was reminded how much I like Naum Gabo.

I also learned the German term 'Lebensbejahung' meaning 'acceptance of life' (it was the title of a piece). Another handy German compound word!
I also loved Brigitte and Martin Matschinsky's smaller metal sculptures:

And I found a new Impressionist friend in Lesser Ury:

This painting

by Wilhelm Gallhof was absolutely scrumptious in person and the reproduction in no way does it justice.
And there was more...but those are the highlights.
This evening we attended another fab Latvian performance piece. Twas wunderbar!
Bid bald,
D.

Lustige Fotos

2010-04-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

Spotted at the local drugstore:

Hahaha...'bad' means 'bath' in German.
I had a funny language realization recently. Ya know how Ludacris is often referred to as simply 'Luda'...well you may recall from my Karneval post that 'Lude' (same pronunciation) means 'hussy' or 'pimp' in German!
I also saw this recently at our corner store:

Those must be some really awesome tighty-whities.
Last but not least, remember that honeydew melon that came home in Clayton's jacket hood on New Year's Eve? Well it has sat on our balcony since then, even after the snow melted. Take a gander at how it looks now:

Everyone thinks it's a poo when they see it from inside. Probably because they're so used to the dog poo covered streets below, haha.
Bis bald,
D.

Cali-for-ny-aye

2010-04-01T06:57:00.001-07:00

This post has been sitting in my 'drafts' folder for ages! Finally, a little summary of my California trip and the culture shock I experienced going back to the States for the first time in many months.
So 3 days, 1 party, 1 concert, and 1 sleepless night induced by a sinus infection after I got back from Lisbon, I caught an early morning flight to head out to California for the first time since last June. The bf recently moved to Sacramento, where I had never been, and since it was his birthday and all, I decided it was a good time for a visit. I was visiting people all over NorCal and the Bay Area which meant...
LOTS of driving. And lots of money for gas. In Berlin I had professed to miss driving and my car but I think I can actually do without it most of the time, thank you very much.
It was an interesting trip because the interval between my Thanksgiving trip home and this one was the longest consecutive time I had spent abroad since I was 14, and it was weird but I experienced major culture shock returning to my own country.
Everything in America is so in-your-face. A simple trip to the grocery store is mind boggling. All the different products and colors screaming at you from the shelves and a huge produce section completely unrelated to seasonal availability and racks upon racks of screeching celebrity rags.
ugh.
not to mention, I could not BELIEVE how expensive groceries are. Or eating out. Or going to a bar. Or rent! I mean I guess it's ridiculous to compare anything to Berlin because it's probably got the lowest cost of living of any major world city but my God. I was blown away.
One trip to Whole Foods for some dinner ingredients, drinks, and breakfast foods cost me more than I spent on groceries during the entire month of February in Berlin.
One meal at a Thai restaurant cost more than 10 meals at our Berlin local's Friday buffet.
One decent beer cost waaaay more than our standby Sterni's 65 euro cents.
And the four gas fill-ups that were required during my 10-day stay cost more than my monthly U-Bahn ticket and my bike repairs combined.

That being said.
It was so awesome to see everyone again. And even though I was in California, I felt closer to people in New York too because I could just call or shoot a text instead of coordinating skype meetups with the time difference. Plus:
The WEATHER was amazing. I kept having to remind myself it was still March.
I was definitely disconcerted by feeling a kind of disgust at my own home country. But then again, I had to remind myself of all the times I've been SO FRUSTRATED by the way things are done in Germany. Unfortunately I can't be in two places at once, the story of my life.
Anyhoo despite the insane cost of groceries, we had some fun being all domestic and cooking, especially since Clayton's brand-new kitchen and kitchen equipment were a very far cry from our worn out IKEA supplies in Berlin.
Halibut with mushroom risotto and roast asparagus and tomato:

CK at his table ready to eat Jamie Oliver's pine nut pasta:

I also visited a friend in Marin and got to hang out with her golden retriever:

Yaaay puppy!
We also found this gem while browsing the shops:

For all their "supermarkets are closed on Sundays" (and, apparently, on Good Friday and the Monday after Easter) bullshit, I haven't noticed many Germans being quite that blatant.
But I guess what this trip taught me is even if the American way of life is a bit jarring after living in Germany, there's always something to be said for "home."
Bis bald,
D.

Lisboa

2010-04-01T05:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, yes, I know, this post is about a million years overdue. What can I say. I'm a jetsetter.
So at the beginning of March, which is now almost a month ago (pinch, punch, first of the month...) Celia and I went to visit Eric in Lisbon. Yeah!
Check out some of my photos on my flickr and on facebook.
Despite the weather forecast, we continued to believe that we were headed for a sunny, breezy beach vacation.
This was not the case.
When we arrived it was pouring rain. Luckily both of us had at least been sensible enough to pack umbrellas. We had an adventure on the bus system (being made to pay twice when we transferred...ah well), then made our way up some windy, cobblestoned streets to Eric's pad. The high ceilings and wood floors reminded me of a Berlin altbau. His roomie's cat immediately settled on my lap and started clawing the sh*t out of my legs. Which admittedly, I kind of enjoyed.
We headed out, umbrellas in hand, to take a walk around the city and find a bakery to try the local specialty pastry, pastéis de nata. They were indeed delicious. When we emerged from the bakery, it had stopped raining! Yay!
We made our way down the hill through Alfama, an old neighborhood with winding streets and interesting buildings. We crossed through the downtown area and then hopped on a street tram to Belem, another neighborhood, where we saw a HUGE monastery, the outside of the modern art museum, and the Vasco de Gama sculpture on the waterfront. The bridge across the Tagus looks just like the Golden Gate--who knew?
Here's me with the bridge in the background as seen from the giant Jesus statue, which I'll get to in a bit:

That night we stopped by Eric's local grocery store, having gotten back to his neighborhood via wonderful rattling old wooden tram #28. It was housed in an interesting building:

I love going to local supermarkets. We made a delicious pasta dish and had some local beers before passing out.
The next day we decided to take the train to a nearby beach town, Cascais. I wore my swimsuit under my clothes and threatened to swim, but that didn't happen...it was too cold, and besides, I didn't have a towel.
The beach was beautiful though and so was the little town of Cascais...

We wandered all along the coastline, met some hilarious sassy American women while chillin on some rocks by the shore, and wandered back to the train via a park filled with weird birds (peacocks, strutting roosters and hens, ducks, geese, and some weird mothers with tumor-like things on their faces) and the cute winding streets of Cascais. That night we cooked and stayed in again.
The next morning Celia took off for Porto, an old and apparently beautiful city north of Lisbon (and yes, that's where port wine comes from) while Eric and I headed up into the mountains to Sintra, where Lisbon's elite used to spend their summers in the cooler mountain climate. It was pouring rain...all day...but we braved it and explored an awesome estate with crazy grottos, caves, castles and one mysterious underground tower:

We also checked out the estate's mansion which had a neat tower and a secret alchemy lab on the roof.
We were soaked to the skin and pretty tired by then, but we also decided to check out Sintra's royal palace, and got more than we bargained for when a historical dance troupe began performing in the first room:

The rest of the palace was also cool, with lots of neat decorative details like the "swan room" (where the dancers performed) with swans on the ceiling, one room with 3D ceramic tiles shaped like corn cobs (Lisbon is known for its tilework; there're beautiful tiles covering facades all over the city, see my flickr set for some examples), and one room with the ceiling painted all over with magpies representing the queen's ladies-in-waiting, something to do with the king being caught flirting with one and claiming that it weren't no thang. There was also a "Goddess Diana courtyard":

Plus the palace is well known for its two HUGE conical kitchen chimneys, and the kitchens were pretty impressive to see, even though they were flooded with rain.
Though the palace was awesome we were truly done for after that and hopped back on the train to Lisbon.
After resting up in the apartment for a while, we headed out to find some dinner (at about 10pm, haha) and found a random little place where they served us small salads, big slabs of fresh salmon with veggies, and chocolate mousse for around 10eur. I was impressed. Afterwards we wandered over to Bairro Alto (high neighborhood), Lisbon's party area. The streets were crammed with revelers and we joined the fray, wandering the narrow, tilted streets with beers in hand.
On Saturday it was sunny and beautiful! We headed to the Saturday flea market in Alfama and I found a cool old enamel pin. Eric found some sunglasses but didn't buy them, a decision he later regretted. And a delightful drunk repeatedly accosted us with his plastic water bottle full of red wine. Good times.
We walked Alfama again and the photographic opportunities had increased a thousandfold with the beautiful sunshine pouring through the alleyways. Eventually we reached the waterfront, and walked along it to catch a ferry across the river. Then we caught a bus up the hill to see the Cristo Rei, a huge statue of Jesus that overlooks the city much like the one in Rio.
Eric had already been up the top but I dutifully paid my entrance, rode the crowded elevator, and bounded up the last few steps to the viewing platform.
The view of the city and surrounding area was breathtaking and the statue, even from up close, was epicly large.

(it was windy up there).
Soon after we got back to the apartment, Celia came back from Porto bearing a bottle of port (yum) and we headed back to Bairro Alto for dinner at a place with a reasonable all-you-can-eat buffet. The food was pretty good for the price and we had a nice last meal. Then we headed around the corner to a crazy bar jam-packed with knick knacks of all descriptions. Eric was sitting in front of the train display:

Then we headed out on the town, passing around the port bottle like the classy folks we are, and took a turn around Bairro Alto before calling it a night, since we had to get up at 4am (!!!) to catch our flight back to Berlin.
Next up: California!
Then: multiple posts about Berlin!
Then: traveling for a month in May with sporadic yet wildly interesting posts!
Bis bald,
D.

"German Efficiency"

2010-03-23T15:41:00.000-07:00

Yes, I should probably be posting on the trip to California I got back from yesterday...or the trip to Portugal I got back from two weeks ago...but instead, something I witnessed on the U-Bahn today and a convo I had with my roomie this evening has prompted a post on the myth of German efficiency.
That's right, it's a myth. Or at least that what I've come to believe.
I've ranted before about the jaywalking situation, but to recap, no one does it. Ever. And if you do, you get dirty looks and/or lectures about not doing it in front of the children.
Speaking of children and rule-following, that brings me to what happened on the U-Bahn today (I've translated for convenience, but this took place in German,of course). A little child next to me called loudly to her mother, "Mama!" and pointed at a man behind me. "He's eating!" The man said "Uh-oh" and chuckled good-naturedly. Flustered, the mother explained to her child in breathless, breakneck German (seriously, she was talking so fast she had to stop and catch her breath afterwards) that the rule was really meant for messy foods, like fries dripping ketchup, or döner kebab dropping bits of meat and lettuce (I didn't get a look at what the man was actually eating, but he continued to halfheartedly and uncomfortably chuckle). The kid wasn't having any of it though. She stood up straight and pointed at the sign on the wall. "I READ IT," she proclaimed, and proceeded to read the sign about not eating out loud for everyone's benefit. Then she glared at the man behind me. The mother didn't know what to say. It was hilarious.
So what does this have to do with efficiency being a myth? Well just because you're following rules, doesn't mean you're being efficient. In fact, sometimes the most efficient course of action is not to follow the rules, i.e. when there are no cars on the street and you want to get across it and go home. Thus I propose, with the example of the little girl on the U-Bahn, that the quintessential German quality often mistaken for efficiency is actually just a penchant for following the rules. Always. No matter how irrational it may be to do so.
The only comment in German on my jaywalking post, "Ordung muss leider sein, egal ob es auf der Strasse oder in dem Meldeamt ist." (Unfortunately there must be order, whether it's in the streets or in the registration office) only serves to prove my point (sorry Eryk...but it's true).
The fact that inefficiency is in actual fact quite rampant in Germany is proved by the fact that at the local Stadtbad (public pool), they never divide the pool into lanes so people can swim laps. There are, however, always people trying to swim laps, meaning they have to navigate around grannies and kids who seem purposely to swim in their path. It's quite unpleasant. The first time I encountered this, I figured there must be a separate lap-swimming time. Seeing "Paralellbetrieb" (parallel use) on the schedule, I figured that must be it. No, that means that half the pool is given over to a swimming course, while the remaining half is even more difficult to navigate. Wtf? Not only that, but rather than a time set aside for lap swimming in peace, there is a time set aside for "Spaßbaden"--fun swimming. Again, wtf? Isn't it friggin Spaßbaden all the time? How could anyone witness the poor souls trying in vain to get a workout in and not realize, "Hey, maybe we should have a separate time for lap swimming"? Well, that's not the way we do it. No matter how much more efficient it may be.
The one time I have encountered Germans breaking the rules is when it comes to lines, or as my British side would like to put it, queuing. Buying tickets at the movie theater is a madhouse--multiple registers and no fixed lines. Waiting to get a coat back after a concert is the same--either a big crowd vaguely pushing towards the counter, or people pretending there's more than one line, then subtly edging in in front of you. But I've had the worst luck at airports. Dear God, there is absolutely no respect for a good queue at Tegel or Schönefeld. You have to be really aggressive to prevent someone from casually sidling up and stepping right in front of you like it ain't no thang. So I guess that when it comes to forming a line, the "rules" that those of us with British blood (or half an ounce of common courtesy) tend to follow are too ambiguous and not official, thus meaning they are ignored by a large part of the German population. In this instance, at least, they appear to aim for efficiency.
So next time you make a crack about Germans being super-efficient...remember this post!
Bis bald,
D.

PS. No offense meant, no hard feelings. Just some friendly cultural commentary to keep us all on our toes.

Haarschnitt!

2010-03-09T10:56:00.000-08:00

There's a bar in Berlin that offers 10eur haircuts every Monday night. I don't like paying lots of money for haircuts, so this sounded pretty good to me. I suppose it was a risk (understatement of the year) to get a haircut in a corner of a random bar but that's how I roll. We went early so the guy wouldn't have any time to drink. Ha! I can safely say this was the first time I ever drank beer while having my hair cut. I think it turned out pretty swell.

Bis bald,
D.

RIGARIGARIGARIGA

2010-03-09T04:03:00.000-08:00

Let it never be said that romance is dead
'Cos there's so little else occupying my head
There is nothing I need 'cept the function to breathe
But I'm not really fussed, doesn't matter to me
RIGARIGARIGARIGA
Do ya, do ya, do ya, do ya
Know what ya doing, doing to me?
RIGARIGARIGARIGA
Due to lack of interest tomorrow is cancelled
Let the clocks be reset and the pendulums held
'Cos there's nothing at all 'cept the space in between
Finding out what you're called and repeating your name
Could it be, could it be, that you're joking with me
And you don't really see you with me
Could it be, could it be, that you're joking with me
And you don't really see you with me
Do ya, do ya, do ya, do ya
What ya doing, doing to me?

Here's the thing about Riga in February. It's still pretty effin cold, but not cold enough for all the built up snow and ice to stay solid. Thus, it is a frequent daily occurence that large snowbanks will slide off of their precarious perches atop Riga's stunning art nouveau architecture and crash to the street below, cars and/or pedestrians be damned!
Most of the sidewalks directly in front of buildings were taped off and unsafe to walk on. Sometimes a doorway was even taped over, which made me wonder, what do you do if you live there?
The answer, apparently, is simply to duck under the tape and risk life and limb for the moment you are exposed to flying ice chunks, such as this:

Or entire colonies of ice chunks such as this:

That was the fate of one poor station wagon who we witnessed being beaten into submission by falling ice-snow. It bleated its alarm in protest but it was already dented up.
Anyway other than imminent death by ice Riga was really awesome. I happened to be there for the Art Academy's annual carnival party and this year's theme was Black & White. It was pretty effin insane. Let's just say I saw one naked guy too many.
The next night the friend I was staying with DJed at a small party in a vintage clothing store. No one else was dancing so I had to do double duty tearin up the dancefloor all by myself. After three hours of that, I decided to take a "rest" and ended up falling asleep on a vintage couch watching the Olympics in black and white on a vintage television. Yep...I know how to party hard.
Then it was Sunday and we ventured into the countryside to my friend's Dad's house. All four of her brothers were in attendance for a large family meal complete with traditional Latvian black bread and hard cheese with carraway seeds. Afterwards, we watched the Latvian version of "So You Think You Can Dance" (riveting) and then headed out through the snow across the backyard to...
the SAUNA.
Yes, they have an old wooden hut at the back of their property which contains a large collection of Latvian antiques and a state-of-the-art sauna.
I was assigned a robe and we got all hot and sweaty. Apparently it's no good unless you turn lobster red, which we did. We went in the sauna three times total, and the last time we slathered ourselves in honey. When we came out, a big earthenware jar of fresh mint tea was waiting for us, as well as a big fluffy gray cat named Cola (for Coca-Cola). The truly traditional experience. It was wonderful.
I fell asleep to the sound of their husky dog howling at the moon and awoke when it was still dark to catch my early morning flight.
Here I am foolin around in the lobby of a cool old school movie theater in Riga. Which one is me? I know it's kkinda hard to tell:

Random statues outside the contemporary art museum, the Arsenal:

A statue on the street illustrating both the snow and ice all over everything and the caution tape stretched across all the sidewalks:

It was awesome seeing the typical tourist stuff, the capital's crazy nightlife, and a glimpse into normal suburban family life. I'm so glad I took the opportunity to visit Riga with a local!
Bis bald,
D.

Ich liebe die Berliner Mauer

2010-03-07T09:08:00.000-08:00

In a list of the 5 weirdest things people have fallen in love with, I came across this story of a woman who "married" the Berlin wall:
"In the last months of 1989, as the Berlin Wall came down and Germans were tearfully reunited with long lost friends and family, most people around the world celebrated. But it was not a happy day for one woman, who was appalled that those selfish Germans could tear down her beloved husband. Yes, this woman married the Berlin Wall.

Eija-Riitta Berliner-Mauer (she even changed her last name to Berlin Wall) claims to have fallen in love with the structure when she saw it on TV at the age of seven. She collected pictures of the wall while saving up to pay a visit, eventually getting a chance to visit her love numerous times. They were “married” in 1979, and she says that she had a full, loving, physical relationship with the wall. That’s what we refer to as “holy s**t, too much information you crazy lady!”

Berliner-Mauer was devastated when the wall came down, but she’s moved on and fallen in love with a local garden fence. So her story has a happy ending, as she’s gotten over the “death” of her famous, exotic lover and has settled for the simple fence next door. How heart warming. Wait, no, not heart warming, that other thing. Horrifying."

Wow.
Photos/updates from Riga and Lisbon coming soon I proooomise.
Bis bald,
D.

Sveiki

2010-03-01T05:46:00.000-08:00

That's 'hello' in Latvian.
This morning at 5am I woke up in a house surrounded by huge snowbanks in the Latvian countryside. Now I'm in the midst of a normal work day back in Berlin. It's pretty surreal.
I'll post more on Latvia when I upload pictures/am not at work, but for now here's a youtube video of the band I'm seeing in concert tonight.

Whoo jetset lifestyle!
Bis bald,
D.

Vampire Weekend

2010-02-20T04:22:00.000-08:00

Perhaps the most anticipated show in Berlin this month was last night's Vampire Weekend concert, and the roomies and I had tickets! It was a great, exhilarating gig. I waited and waited for them to play "Cape Cod"...finally they did, the last song of the encore, and I jumped up and down in joy the whole time.
When they played "Giving up the Gun," they announced that the video for it had just come out yesterday. So I had to seek it out, and man, is it awesome.
Starring RZA, L'il Jon, Jake Gyllenhaal and, randomly, Joe Jonas, it portrays a tennis competition with RZA as the line judge, L'il Jon as the magic encouraging coach and Jake Gyllenhaal and Joe Jonas as opponents. Jake drinks whiskey from a flask while he plays, haha.
Enjoy!

Bis bald,
D.

KARNEVAL!

2010-02-20T03:07:00.000-08:00

An overdue post on last weekend's visit to the Karneval festivities in Köln!
Karneval is the Rhineland's version of what is called Mardi Gras or Carneval elsewhere in the world--i.e. the big celebration/sinfest before Lent, where excess and indulgence is encouraged. In Köln, the party starts on a Thursday and goes until the next Tuesday, with the Monday (Rosenmontag) being the craziest day. I had to be in Berlin on Saturday night, so I took a rideshare on Sunday to be there for Sunday evening festivities.
Part of going crazy Kölle-style is everyone wears a costume everywhere, so I reprised my zebra costume from Halloween but with warmer zebra print pajamas (yes I own more than one pair...thanks Mom!). Dini and Mari were Piraten, and Jan was a Gärtner:

And we were ready to go out on the town!
On the way, Jan pulled out little bottles of fruit schnapps from his overalls (haha) and we drank them in a particular way: you have to hit the top of the bottle against something--either a surface or the top of another bottle--then put the cap on your nose and balance it there while downing the bottle's contents. I noticed at the parade the next day that some people had crimped the bottle tops to their noses and just left them there, haha.
Our destination was a huge tent in the town center where you had to have a ticket to get in. The costumes were varied and crazy--Elvises, convicts, schoolgirls, farmers, angels, frogs, and basically everything you could imagine as well as just random crazy outfits.
There were also other zebras:

And one guy dressed as Bert as in Bert and Ernie. Dini asked if I knew what Sesame Street was, and when I told her it was American, she was super surprised. Turns out Jan and Dini thought Sesame Street was a German show! Strange.
Karneval music is hilarious, and I learned quite a few of the songs. This was one of my favorites:

The lyrics are in the video, and the chorus translates roughly as:
And I fly, fly fly
Like a flyer
I'm so strong, strong, strong
Like a tiger
And so tall, tall, tall
Like a giraffe
So high
Whoa oh oh
And I jump, jump, jump
Again and again
And I swim, swim, swim
Over to you
And I take, take, take
You by the hand because I like you
And I say
Today is such a lovely day
Lalalalala

When you say "flieg, flieg, flieg" you flap your arms like flying, "stark, stark, stark" flex your biceps, "groß, groß, groß" stretch your arm up as if measuring a tall thing, "spring, spring, spring" you jump, "schwim, schwim, schwim" you make a breast stroke motion, and "nehm, nehm, nehm" you grab the hands of the people around you and dance with them :) It was so fun! And my companions seemed proud that I caught on so quickly, haha.
Here's another fun one:

Translation of the chorus:
Unfortunately I don't know anymore what you look like
I don't know your name
Don't give a shit! DRUNK!
(repeat once, then...)
Shala-lalala-lala-lalalala-lala-la-lala
DRUNK!!!
etc.
Hahaha.
or this lovely little number, by the same guy:

Chrous:
Oh...Joana (you horny sow!)
Born to give love (you hussy!)
To experience forbidden dreams (you motherfucker!)
Without question until the morning, aha, aha, aha...
Classy, no? The famous German tallk show host Stefan Raab thought it would be funny to serenade Rihanna with that song on his show...when he translated, she was none too pleased.
There are also tamer Karneval staples such as Viva Colonia.
The next day we went into the city to see the Rosenmontag Karnevalzug (Karneval parade). Basically you stand for 3-4 hours by the side of the parade route while innumerable floats and marching people in costume come by and throw candy, flowers, and sometimes toys into the crowd. Instead of flashing to earn these gifts, people scream "CAMELLA!" (at least I think that's how you spell it), meaning candy. When it gets thrown people go nuts, scrambling on the ground and snatching at treats. They fill great big bags with them, or umbrellas if hanging from a window above:

I was given a bag to hold, not understanding that the intention was for me to keep everything that got put in it! Yikes! I also got wounded by flying chocolate bars more than once. Seriously, it's dangerous! They throw great big chocolate bars and whole boxes of chocolates. By the end, I thought I was developing a twitch from flinching so much, haha. It was fun though, and I got to show off my new-found knowledge of Karneval songs by singing along with the crowd. I will say though that I have never seen so much blackface. Um? Inappropriate. Since when is that ok?

I also didn't even know that yellowface existed, but apparently it does:

Plus there were these:

It kind of weirded me out/seriously offended me.
There were also lots of politically themed floats making fun of Obama...and only one making fun of Merkel. This particularly classy example shows Obama farting in the Statue of Liberty's face:

Also, despite the number of small children in attendance, there were some disturbing floats:

and some explicit ones:

Hm yeah so that aspect was...interesting.
It started snowing right as the parade ended and I had to hurry off to catch my ride back to Berlin.
All in all an awesome whirlwind trip and certainly a cultural experience not to be missed!
Bis bald,
D.

PS. The haul:

Fotos aus Leverkusen: Dann und Wann

2010-02-13T04:31:00.000-08:00

Compare/Contrast Leverkusen 2000 and Leverkusen 2010!
Then (click for bigger versions):
Bärbel, Nadine, and me:

Teddy, Nadine, and Jan:

Roland at the BBQ:

The Ellenberger/Bowers sibling soccer match, much remembered when I visited a couple weeks ago:

Now:
Me and Bärbel:

Me and Nadine:

Me and Jan:

Roland:

England, England

2010-02-13T03:23:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday after work I headed to the airport and caught a flight for a whole WEEK in England!
When I stepped off the plane, something was different in the air...then I realized it was the smell of fresh, green grass! Amazing, being somewhere where not everything is completely iced over and grey. The weather was so much better than Berlin. It really lifted my spirits.
I spent the first few days in London and then continued on to Oxford.
On Thursday I had some business meetings (fancy!) in London in the morning, then spent the afternoon at the V&A. They have an awesome and much-publicized show on right now called "Decode: Digital Design Sensations." The show was small, but awesome. It "showcases the latest developments in digital and interactive design, from small, screen-based, graphics to large-scale interactive installations." The first piece fills a small dark hallway leading into the exhibition and consists of patches of long and thin flexible plastic sticks with LED lights on the end. The overall effect is a kind of futuristic marsh grass. The lights turn on and off based on movement and touch and make a cute little beeping noise as they do so. I took a video:

And several photos:

Pretty neat, eh?
My favorite pieces, predictably, were the interactive ones. There was one with a big screen which, if you stood in front of it, registered your body's movement as if it was a brush moving across the page. So every flick of the wrist or turn of the head turned into a burst of color on the screen. I also spent ages playing with a piece that consisted of a bunch of black sand over a screen. If you cleared a space in the sand, multiple images of moving microorganisms would appear on the clear patch of screen. They would multiply over time and you could lead them around by creating passages through the sand. Another piece was a screen broken up into small boxes, each of which held a very brief video recording of visitors. You could stand in front of it and press the button, do something wacky or meaningful or whatever, and it would add your image to the bigger one.
I was also very taken with a piece that showed a map of the US made up of flight patterns.
Pieces from the show were scattered around the museum, and as I went to check out the smaller partner show, "Digital Pioneers," I encountered one that delighted me: a field of small mirrors standing on legs that would find the face of a visitor and turn to "look" at it! So I could stand in front of all these mirrors and as soon as one of them "noticed" me, the rest would all turn to me too.
"Digital Pioneers" was fascinating, showcasing the first artists who used computers to make art. The very first artists who worked this way wrote their own algorithms to get the computer to make images. Later when imaging software was introduced, those who continued to write their own algorithms were known as "algorists." One man, Desmond Paul Henry, adapted a military bombsight computer with a swinging component to hold a paintbrush and produced beautiful, ethereal paintings with it. It was a really interesting show, and I found myself wondering why it wasn't more prominently advertised.
I also wandered into their jewelry room, which was amazing and inspiring, and managed to see most of a show on recent fashion grads at the RCA before the museum closed and kicked me out.
The next day I went to Tate Modern with my Dad and cousin. The permanent collection was inspiring as always. I also took a peek at the just-opened show "Van Doesburg and the Internationl Avant-Garde," which was a dizzingly extensive look at the many fingers Van Doesburg had in the early 20th century avant-garde pie.
The next day...SATURDAY'S A RUGBY DAY!
After lunch with relatives, Dad and I went to see the England/Wales rugby match at Twickenham! It was my first time seeing an international match there--the only other time I'd been was for the Oxford/Cambridge varsity match in 07. I saw Prince Harry not too far from our seats! The game was close enough to be exciting and the stadium was packed with yelling, singing fans.

Sunday we had a lovely roast lunch (mmm...Yorkshire pud) with friends including Dad's adorable godson, Merlin, and then I hopped on a bus to head to Oxford!
I hadn't been since Fall 07 but it felt as if I never left. Everything's the same.
Cole and I went to the Pitt Rivers on Monday and it was my first time there. Cole rightly describes it as "like a flea market." Very visually overwhelming! It's attached to a wonderful little natural history museum, too, and I enjoyed looking at all the weird and wonderful animals. And learning that the Latin name for a gorilla is Gorilla gorilla. Haha.
I also managed to make it to the recently renovated Ashmolean (it was under construction when I was last in Oxford) and it was really lovely--light and airy and open, which it certainly wasn't the last time I went!
I sighed inwardly as my return flight landed on a field of snow. As my brother said, you know it's bad when you envy English weather. All in all a great little trip with good company & good art.
Tomorrow I head back to Leverkusen for Karneval...that should be an experience.
Bis bald,
D.

Happy Groundhog Day!

2010-02-03T04:23:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was Groundhog Day, a holiday that I think only Americans & Canadians have ever heard of, but which actually (according to the wiki) has German roots. We watched the movie last night over at KMX and I made this recipe for mushroom and artichoke pasta. Yum!
I leave tonight for a week in England so I probably won't update til I'm back.
Bis bald,
D.

Letzte Woche

2010-01-31T06:01:00.000-08:00

I need to post more than once a week so I can avoid these "week in review" posts...I'll work on that.
In the meantime, last week in review:
Tuesday was our fourth supper club! You can read all about it here. We had a Meditteranean-themed menu and were at full capacity again with 12 people! It was a good group and we had a lot of fun. Plus the food was delicious, if I do say so myself.
On Wednesday our friend Linda, who works at a gallery in Mitte, had invited us to their latest opening. I have been meaning to make it to the gallery for ages, and finally I went! The show was interesting and some other friends also showed up. New friends were made--in fact, I met a guy who participated in the same Halloween costume contest as I did! He had been dressed as the joker...I of course was a zebra. We had a good laugh when we realized. Small world...
Afterwards some of us tumbled down into Kreuzberg to go to the music quiz at Madame Claude's, where Charlie was quizmaster. We were at the back of the bar and couldn't hear too well, prompting half our team to give up. I wouldn't let the competitive flame go out, however, and moved to the front, squatting on the floor in front of the DJ booth. Another teammate joined me, and based solely on our efforts we ended up tying for second! So we weren't too embarassed.
The walk to the bus station through snowy Görlitzer Park in the near-darkness was gorgeous.
Thursday I went to morning yoga and in the afternoon Josh and I caught two movies in a row. Where the Wild Things Are, which I'd wanted to see for months, was a slowboiler of a movie, plodding along through gorgeous scenery without much actually happening. After that we saw Sherlock Holmes. The verdict? Certifiably badass.
Friday night we had a party at the apartment! After sleeping in (the first time in ages!) and going to the gym, I spent the rest of the day laying in supplies and cleaning the apartment. We had to shovel the snow on the balcony into piles so that people would be able to go out there to smoke. It also made a convenient outdoor fridge.

Soon enough people started showing up...then more people...then more people.
The cops came. They did not come into the apartment. They simply told us, with a smile, to turn down the music. We did, and told people to keep a little quieter. Josh knew, from previous party experience, that it was a three strike system, so we figured the first warning was not a big deal.
Twenty minutes later and some arriving guests tell us there are four cop cars in the street. Then suddenly 8 policemen are charging up the stairs and chomping at the bit to come into the apartment. We argued with them up and down but they insisted on shutting the party down, right there and then. No third warning. No respect.
We told them to stay on the landing, that we would handle it, but as soon as we turned to do so they swarmed into the apartment. Many Germans in attendance corroborated our belief that this was illegal.
They started turning on lights and kicking people out. Meanwhile I was standing in the hallway telling them to get the EFF out of my apartment, that I did not invite them in, that they had no right.
Able to tell that I was not a native German speaker, they spoke condescendingly, saying the police always have the right to come in to someone's apartment if someone else has made a complaint. This, I was told afterward, is patently false, but I started backing off because it occurred to me that I really don't know the law here, and I didn't want to cause too much trouble.
Until I noticed one pudgy old cop, who'd been particularly rude to me, standing defiantly in the middle of my bedroom, even though no one was left in there.
I told him to get out. He refused. This is my bedroom, I said calmly, you need to leave. No one else is in here. Get out. He refused. Tipsy enough to get bellig, I then started yelling at him to get out, and even attempted to push his arm. It was then that he asked for my passport. I refused. No. No. Why?!? No. But then all the other cops got in on it, saying to refuse was a crime, that it would be a 1000eur fine if I didn't comply, etc. Again, I would have fought more if I felt like I knew the law. But I didn't. And they insisted that it wasn't just a noise complaint, that someone in our neighborhood wanted to make a formal complaint, and that they were obliged, for this reason, to take down my information.
I kinda think that they were just bullying me because they could tell I was a foreigner and that they got pissed when I started fighting back so they pretended it was more serious than it was. Either way they acted really disrespectfully and all the locals who witnessed their behavior swore up and down that it was illegal and a few even took the officers' badge numbers and promised to report them.
The party was over of course but it was good while it lasted and most people ended up in the same bar downstairs so it was ok. Besides...now we are legends.
If and when I get something in the mail from the cops, I think we have plenty of reason to fight the charges.
Anyway.
Last night was considerably more tame. It was the Lange Nacht der Museen (long night of the museums), when many museums in Berlin are open from 6pm-2am and one ticket will get you into all of them. I had been excited for this for a while and headed out to start with the Hamburger Bahnhof, the contemporary art museum.

Only to find it...closed? Turns out it wasn't participating in the long night. Neither were any of the Museuminsel museums except the Bodes, which I'd already seen. When I finally got my hands on a pamphlet with actual information, turns out most of the participating museums were small and not too noteworthy.
But I had already bought my kombiticket so I decided to make the most of it.
I saw the George Grosz exhibit at the Akademie der Künste and it was a good excuse to pop into that cool building for the first time. Pariser Platz looked lovely dusted with snow:

I saw "Utopia Matters!" at the Deutsche Guggenheim, which was an interesting mish-mash of an exhibition with works from Pre-Raphaelites as well as Russian Constructivists and others. They had a cool gift shop, and it was also a cool building with a glassed-in courtyard.
I stopped in to the Berliner Dom because I'd never actually been inside and it was absolutely gorgeous. Plus they were having a choir service and it was lovely, lovely, lovely.

I walked over to the Nikolaiviertel, the oldest neighborhood in Berlin (we're talking medieval) to a small historical house museum, the Knoblauchhaus, and a Rococo palace, the Ephraim Palais, which is a museum of Berlin history and art, currently with exhibits on artworks dealing with the Berlin wall. They're two museums I probably never would have gone to on my own time, so that was really worth it.
I then decided I was too tired to make it to the Jewish museum, and got home around 12:30.
I wish they did this nighttime museum thing more often...it was awesome.
I'm excited to head to England next week!
Bis bald,
D.

Leverkusen

2010-01-31T05:43:00.000-08:00

So as I mentioned in my last post, I spent last weekend in Leverkusen visiting the family that I stayed with on my first trip to Germany, back when I was 12 or 13 years old. Sorry the post is overdue, but I was waiting on them to send me some pictures. Since the pics still haven't arrived, I'm just going to go ahead and give the general gist.
There's a great website here when you can find rideshares online so I had lined up two rides to and from Köln, which Leverkusen is near, for far less than a train ticket would have been. I got up and at 'em Friday morning to catch a 10am rideshare. Unfortunately I was tired and mildly hungover so my frenzied last minute packing managed not to include the batch of chocolate chip cookies I had baked special to bring to the family. D'oh!
After six hours in a car with strangers and no food (whoo) I arrived at Köln Hauptbahnhof (main station) right under the imposing cathedral, the view of which I still remembered from my youth (it is a sight one would not easily forget).
I remembered the Family Ellenberger quite well--Dad Roland, Mom Bärbel, and two very blond, very tan children: Jan, younger than me by about 5 years, and Nadine (Dini), who is my age and who I formed a pretty tight bond with when I was there the first time. We used to write letters back and forth on Diddl Maus stationary, but over the years we lost touch. I was kind of nervous to see them all again. Especially knowing that none of them speak very good English anymore and that my German was going to be put to the test!
Anyway I recognized Jan right away outside the Hauptbahnhof. He's taller but still has the same blond hair. We chatted away in German while we waited for the S-Bahn to Leverkusen. So far, so good.
They've moved down the street into Grandma Ellenberger's house, but the street still looked vaguely familiar, and we drove by the old house, which looked smaller than I remembered--it always surprises me when that happens, when things look smaller than you remembered simply because you were a smaller person the last time you saw them (although that wasn't true of the huge honking Kölner Dom). Bärbel came out to meet us--her hair is shorter and lighter, but she has the same welcoming smile. Roland looked smaller to me too (I'm much taller than both parents now!) but has the same loud, joyful laugh. Bärbel had made pear cake, and we sat around the table and chatted and caught up. My German was shaky at times but I think pulled through pretty well.
We all went out to dinner where Dini met us with her boyfriend, a footballer for the local second-string team, and we also met some family friends who I had supposedly met ten years prior but did not, sadly, remember. Again my German held up and I was feeling more and more comfortable with it!
The next day Bärbel made her famous goulash and it was just as scrumptious as I remembered. Then, since they had asked what I wanted to do, we went to Köln's contemporary art museum, the Ludwig, where I learned about some German artists I hadn't previously known of and saw some great pieces by artists I already knew. What a great museum--views of the Rhine and the Dom and a huge collection. I was really surprised at how good it was.
That night, we drove to Düsseldorf, which I hadn't realized was so close, for a round of disco bowling!
And the next morning I hopped back in a rideshare and headed home.
It was a quick visit but so good to see everyone again. And, most importantly, I found that my German is much more fluent than I tend to give myself credit for. If I had to live in a total immersion situation, I could totally handle it. I wouldn't be able to express too-complicated ideas right away, but I learned so much in that short time that I think it would come quick enough. It makes me feel a bit sad that I chose Berlin and non-German roommates, but then again, now I know that the skills are there, for whenever I may need them.
They invited me back for Karneval (the Rhineland's answer to Mardi Gras!) in a couple of weeks and I think I'm going to go and see if my zebra costume goes over better there than it did at Halloween :)
Bis bald,
D.

Letzte Woche

2010-01-25T09:20:00.000-08:00

Last week on Wednesday I was invited to the birthday party of a friend of a friend who is also in my yoga class. Her name is Margo and she's a Latvian cabaret singer. There's a creatively vibrant group of Latvian emigrants here in Neukoelln that includes Margo; my friend Galka, a costume designer; my friend Linards, a VJ; and a woman who designs hats and has a small hat boutique round the corner from my flat. The birthday party was at the hat shop. When I walked in there were several performances and everyone was wearing hats and I asked some guy I had just met (turned out to be the shirtless cellist later) where he had gotten his hat and it turned out there was a make-your-own-hat station!!! So I made a lovely hat which was finished just in time to take part in the hat fashion show which involved climbing up on a ladder and saying your name, the name of your hat, and explaining something about it. I said my hat was called "Nocturne in Grey and Burgundy (I hope to god I didn't accidentally use someone's scarf to make this hat)." It was a smashing success!

O the Latvians...and o Berlin.
The next night, a friend and I returned to Magnet Club (site of the awesome Mountain Goats show) to see Thao with the Get Down Stay Down. It was epic! Magnet is such a small venue, so we got right up front and sang along and danced and when it was over she came down into the audience and we met her and chatted about the Bay Area and she signed autographs for us :)

It was an epic night!
The next morning I hopped in a rideshare to head to Leverkusen and see my original German host family for the first time in 10 years...but that's a story for my next blog post.
Bis bald,
D.

La Ville de Lumières

2010-01-18T14:49:00.000-08:00

Finally taking advantage of my proximity to the rest of Europe, I spent last weekend in PARIS!
I arrived late Wednesday night and made my way to my friend's apartment in the 19th arrondisement, where I was soon happily passed out. The next day I met my friend for lunch after her morning classes and then we headed to the Pompidou, one of my fav museums in Paris (it's a toss-up between the Pompidou and the d'Orsay) for their Pierre Soulages retrospective. I had never heard of Soulages but apparently everyone at Annabelle's school was buzzing about the show. Believe the hype! It was great. The bulk of it consisted of his 3D all-black canvases with paint so thick it creates texture and shape. They reflect the light in amazing ways. He calls it "outrenoir"--"beyond black."

"One day when I was painting the black took over the canvas. And in this extreme I saw, in a way, the negation of black, the different textures reflecting the light to differing degrees. Out of darkness came light, a pictorial light whose particular emotional force provoked in me a desire to paint--I like it that this violent color induces an inward reaction. My instrument was no longer the black but this secret light it radiated, all the more powerful in its effects for coming from the greatest absence of light. That is the path I followed, and in following it I am always discovering new horizons."
We also discovered the Atelier Brancusi next door--Brancusi's studio reassembled in its entirety in a small building specially designed by Renzo Piano. He bequeathed it to the French government on the condition that it be shown complete, as he considered it a work of art in itself, with finished pieces carefully arranged next to raw materials, tools, and works in progress.
That night to celebrate Annabelle's birthday her boyfriend took us to a fondue restaurant where we shared a cheese fondue and then a chocolate one. Suuuper healthy. and delicious. The cheese fondue had wine in it--enough that I tasted it immediately--and the boyfriend claimed this was necessary in a fondue. Who am I to say?
Afterwards I headed by myself to the Cité Universitaire to meet two other old friends from Brooklyn and we had such a grand old time that we were up til the RER started running again...I got home around 7am.
The next day I again met Annabelle for lunch and we went to a restaurant known for its falafel. Yum! The Picasso Museum is closed until 2012 apparently (sadface) so we headed to Pere Lachaise, the famous cemetery, where I had never been. We splurged on a tourist-y map of the famous graves at a newsstand. An hour later, having tramped through half the cemetery but only having found a few of the people supposedly buried there, a security guard informed us that a) the penalty for walking on the grass is they take your shoes (his idea of a joke) and b) our map was wrong and a scam. Go us. Luckily he gave us his map and we ended up seeing a good number of famous graves, including Proust, Balzac, Bizet, Oscar Wilde, Gericault, Chopin, and of course Jim Morrison (had to do it). We missed, unfortunately, Seurat, Moliere, Apolloinaire, Eluard, Ernst, Daumier, Corot, and a host of others, but it was getting dark and cold and our feet hurt.
There were also lots of other interesting monuments and I took more pictures at the cemetery than anywhere else (does this say something about me? I mean I did write two papers about Greenwood Cemetery as a young'un).

Wilde's grave was covered in lipstick kisses (kinda cute) and scrawled messages (not so much...it's called defacing, assholes). When I ran my fingers over the carved letters of his name, I got lipstick on them. Um. Gross. Thanks Oscar!

I was more interested in the awesome trees round that part of the cemetery...full of big black crows. The place was also crawling with black cats. Wtf? Do they do that on purpose to make it creepier?

Gericault's grave was hilarious. It was topped by a lounging figure daintily holding an artist's palette and brush. Below was a bronze version of his painting The Raft of the Medusa. It was surrounded by a fence made up of the letter G and little hearts. Can we say inflated self-importance? Although it did help me recognize the grave.

That night, Annabelle's roomie hosted a party at the flat for the combined birthdays of Annabelle, the roomie's boyfriend, and one of their friends. She cooked a whole ton of delicious "nibblies" so I sat and stuffed my face with French cheese and pate while everyone else spoke French. Haha seriously though, it was funny, I attempted to listen and sometimes people took pity and spoke English to me for a while.
I soon headed out to meet a friend at "Le Rhummerie," a bar devoted to rum, where I sampled two of their famous mango mojitos and went home happy at 3am, despite having to transfer to the bus because the Metro stopped running. Even in Berlin they know to have the trains run all night on Fridays and Saturdays. Ah well.
On Saturday it was raining but Annabelle and I decided to make good on our plan to visit Versaille because I'd never been! It was really cool and surreal to be there. Of course I'll have to go back again someday to see the gardens in full bloom, and to see Marie Antoinette's mini-palace or whatever it is. Still, the rainy day had its own aesthetic charms.

This random deer head was not explained:

Neither was anything really...the audio guide was appallingly bad. It left me thirsting for more...I'm adding biographies of Marie Antoinette and Napoleon to my reading list.
I met Courbet in a hallway full of busts of famous Frenchmen (no women):

His beard was magnifique.
That night we went out for drinks, I tumbled home at 2, finished packing at 3, and got up to catch my flight at 6. Woot!
I was back in my apartment in Berlin by 11am, and back to work today. Craziness.
As usual after visiting Paris I now want to a) live there and b) learn French. I plan on starting goal b when I leave Germany. One language at a time.
It was funny how when I encountered a person who did not speak English, my instinct was to try German before English. It was no more likely--in fact probably less likely--that they would speak it, but I guess I've just gotten used to busting out the German when I have a communication issue. That's a good thing, I think?
Bis bald,
D.

Schneeballschlacht

2010-01-13T03:19:00.000-08:00

On Sunday there was a HUGE snowball fight in Görlitzer Park pitting my neighborhood, Neukölln, and the next-door neighborhood, Kreuzberg, against each other.
As we trekked through the snow from another delicious Berlin brunch we heard a loud roaring sound coming from the center of the park. When we rounded the corner, we saw a ginormous crowd of people with snowballs flying every which way in the air above!
We soon found our crew and were illuminated as to which side of the divide we should be fighting on, and dove right in.
War drums thumped in the background as wave after wave from the Kreuzberg side came up against our front line, yelling and throwing deathballs of snow and ice. Small children, dogs, and people in giant snowmen outfits cavorted in the death strip between the two sides. Occasionally someone would try a new strategy, like riding a sled down the divide, pelting snowballs as they sped by, or trying a double attack with one person on another's shoulders. While from a tactical perspective these were usually failures they certainly provided hilarity.
Some people had shields, some people had slings to carry snow or pre-made snowballs at an easy-to-reach level, some had intense winter gear like goggles or snowsuits. Me, I had gloves that stuck to the snow and managed to rip my jeans. Clearly I was ill-prepared.
Sadly I did not have my camera with me but I have taken some photos from the facebook event to give an idea of what is was like:

I think this sling device is why I almost went deaf in one ear after receiving a particularly hard snowball to the side of my head:

Berliners sure love their outdoor spaces...even in winter. Just this morning I had to wade through a bunch of little kids, their mothers clutching sleds, on the U-Bahn platform. Everyone uses these great old school wooden sleds with runners and I see them being carried on public transport all the time.
Off to Paris tonight!
Bis bald,
D.

Silvester & Feuerwerk

2010-01-12T04:06:00.000-08:00

'Silvester' is how to say New Year's Eve in German. But the more important word to know for this particular holiday is 'Feuerwerk'--fireworks!!!
Apparently everyone and their grandma has piles of fireworks and starting Christmas Eve and continuing through to New Year's Day, they set them off in the streets, off their balconys, in the middle of tram tracks and wherever else they goddamn please at all hours of the day and night.
This means that we were treated not only to our own personal fireworks show with big pretty explosions right off our balcony, but also to periodic (and ever-more-frequent) loud and ominous bangs echoing through the neighborhood for a week straight.
I'd been told that NYE itself is like a warzone--crazy drunk people wandering the streets with armfuls of fireworks and firing them off at passers-by, fireworks landing on one's head from the balconies and roofs above, etc. This proved true when, walking to the bus station to head to our house party of choice, two drunk men pointed fireworks directly at us and some innocent women nearby. When we yelled, they retreated down the street a bit, only to fire distance missiles at us, one nearly hitting one of the other women. It was nuts!
At the party, we watched from a top floor balcony as the entire skyline burst into life at midnight. The noise was cacophonus. Fireworks were everywhere. It was beautiful...even, dare I say, magical. Soon someone thrust 'fireworks' that looked suspiciously like dynamite into our hands and we tossed them into the street with wild abandon. Just like the locals!
Later we trekked through the snow to a big party at the Neukölln Brauerei. Having paid 5eur to get in we were pretty disappointed when the music and dancefloors kinda sucked. But we found a display of free tropical fruit and decided it would all be worth it if we each stole 5eur worth of fruit. That's how I ended up walking home with two pineapples stuffed down the front of my jacket and how some poor sap who made the mistake of pelting Josh with a snowball got a pear thrown at him in return (Josh does not remember that happening, but I have witnesses). Also we still have a cracked honeydew melon, which came home in the hood of Clayton's jacket, nestled into our balcony snow.
I didn't take many photos but here's a sampling.
Clayton pulled our magnum out of the balcony snowdrift (see two posts ago) and popped the cork into the cold night air:

It left a champagne-shaped hole in our snow which has since been covered over:

We enjoyed posing with the magnum for various photos. My outfit was very shiny:

And here's a short video of a firework exploding right in front of our balcony:

I stand by our decision not to go to an overpriced club night...we had a really fun and crazy night for less than 10eur each!
Bis bald,
D.

Weinachten

2010-01-12T02:40:00.001-08:00

Loooong overdue post on Christmas!
The day after the fam departed for Christmas at home in Brooklyn, my friend Danielle, who I've known since I was 9, arrived to spend Christmas with me!
We went out to explore the city, and the Holocaust Memorial was beautiful in the fading afternoon light, covered in icy rivulets and frost:

We also baked some gingerbread cookies using my collection of Berlin cookie cutters: the Brandenburg Gate, the TV tower, and the Ampelmänner--the little men in the walk and don't walk lights at crosswalks. Plus a star shape for good measure.

We decorated them with icing, too!

On Christmas Eve we attempted to go ride the ferris wheel at the Alexa Christmas market, but it was closed! As was Weinachtszeit in front of the Rote Rathaus. I had heard that in Germany, and Europe in general I think, Christmas Eve is more the holiday than Christmas Day--that's when presents are opened and a large family meal consumed--but somehow I hadn't made the connection that that would mean everything was shut down. Ah well. We grabbed some Chinese food instead, haha. The weather was shite, anyway...the TV tower was shrouded in mist at midday:

And then it was CHRISTMAS!
We got up early and prepared the turkeys and stuffing and got them into the oven. I had never roasted a turkey before, but luckily Dani had some experience, and between us we managed to do ok! (despite the somewhat lacking pan situation and not-well-calibrated oven in my kitchen)
We fixed some mimosas and gathered round the tiny tree with my roomie Josh to open some prezzies. Josh had never heard of a mimosa before, and neither had his dad and brother when they arrived--guess they don't make them in Australia!

We spent the rest of the morning cooking and soon our guests arrived for a feast of epic proportions!!!

That's two small roast turkeys, stuffing, mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, brussel sprouts, peas, cranberry sauce, and gravy.
The turkeys and veg were easy enough to get, and my mother brought me canned Ocean Spray cranberry sauce and Stovetop stuffing mix from the States for a taste of home. I couldn't find a baster or an aluminum pan, but I found a meat thermometer and improvised the rest with lots of foil and a ladle.
And of course I wore my hideous thrift store Christmas vest. Woot!

Dessert was even more epic...I baked two batches of muffins (chocolate and banana-chocolate-chunk) and the gingerbread cookies, we had mince pies and krumkaage (norwegain cookies) brought to me by my mother, and the piece de resistance, a christmas pudding from KaDeWe (brit tradition via my father), soaked in brandy, set on fire, and served with homemade brandy butter. Mmmm.
Then of course we also had piles of various chocolates including the liquor-infused ones hung on the tree. Yum!
All in all...I was able to recreate some of my family traditions, other families were able to come together, and I think everyone had fun.

Next up: New Year's Eve. And maybe then I'll finally be up to speed!
Bis bald,
D.

Frohes Neues Jahr!

2010-01-05T06:45:00.000-08:00

Ok I know, I know, I haven't updated in ages.
I plead holiday season craziness and a straight *month* of visitors from the States!
Some highlights:
Pre-Christmas "princess party":

Visit from the 'rents and little bro, Dec. 15-22:

This delightful traditional beverage was described to us as "like Glühwein, but more alcoholic." And how!
We also had great fun rediscovering an old Grandpa Bowers favorite: Lamumbas, aka alcoholic hot chocolate (at the Weichnachsmärkte, with rum or amaretto; grandpa B used to serve 'em with chocolate milk and Spanish brandy).
I took the fam for a Berlin specialty: currywurst! It's a chopped sausage smothered in curry ketchup and curry powder. This is the German idea of spicy. At least at Curry 36, supposedly one of the best currywurst stands in the city, you can add extra chili flakes which actually do pack a punch. Here's a picture with some typical accompaniments, an order of fries (pommes) with ketchup and mayo and a nice cold Berliner Kindl:

Mostly the food at Christmas markets is a smorgasbord of traditional German delights, but this stand in Spandau was going for a different approach:

Very authentic I'm sure.
It snowed every day they were here! leading to some very nice views of snowy (and cold!) Berlin:

Especially walking home from the Museuminsel (this was at 5pm-ish):

My parent's hotel, the Radisson near Alex, had a giant aquarium in the lobby...pretty surreal going up the elevator in the middle of it and looking out at the hotel through schools of fish:

We attended almost every major Christmas market in Berlin to sample the goods (mmm...hot alcohol. and bratwurst) and the fanciest one (with a 1eur entry charge!) was at the Gendarmenmarkt:

We enjoyed watching a bunch of ducks and swans get fed by a German family on a snowy walk through Park Sansoucci in Potsdam:

...that's my brief recap of the family visit. I'll update again soon on Christmas and New Year's celebrations!
Bis bald,
D.

Weinachtsmänner & Weinachtsbaum

2009-12-13T14:45:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I met a friend at the Potsdamer Platz Christmas Market. Man, I cannot WAIT to try tubing down the fake snowhill there!
It was raining, so we took a quick spin through the market, then took shelter at a nearby coffee shop for a while. The rain, however, just got worse, until it was sleeting, and then suddenly--snow. It was snowing!
I had forgotten an umbrella and wasn't wearing a hat and dear God it was freezing cold, but I was somewhat protected in the bus shelter and just tried to enjoy the pretty swirling whiteness.
But the bus was taking for-freakin-ever and my toesies were starting to freeze even in my sturdy Scottish hiking boots! I was just starting to get grumpy when the presumed reason for the delay rounded the corner: a police motorcycle, lights flashing, leading a motorcade.
"Great," I thought, "some politician needs to come through this way and I get to freeze because my bus is delayed."
But then I heard what sounded like a marching band. And instead of the usual black cars, there was a big ole truck behind the police cars. And what was inside it? An orchestra, all the members wearing santa hats and playing Christmas songs. I grinned big. Totally worth the wait!
But I didn't even know the half of it...
Behind the truck came an army of motorcycles, each being driven by someone in a Santa suit! Some had angels or polar bears behind them or in sidecars, and all were decorated with flashing lights and Christmas paraphernalia. They were grinning and waving despite the cold and all of us huddled under the bus shelter grinned and waved back. It was so awesome!
I took some pictures and a video:

See how dark it is? Yeah, four o'clock in the afternoon. Sigh. I think I have S.A.D. (seasonal affective disorder).
So "Santa Claus" auf Deutsch is "der Weinachtsman." At least I think so. To be honest, I'm not really 100% clear on the difference between the Weinachtsman and St. Nikolaus. St. Nikolaus Day is December 6th and that's when people (kids mostly I guess) put their shoes out to get gifts in them overnight. Bad kids get rocks. Really bad kids get a wooden switch to get beaten with. If you're not good, St. Nikolaus will go totally Grimm Brothers on yo ass.
I bought a small Christmas tree for the apartment yesterday because it is absolutely ripping my soul in two not to be going home for Christmas and I wanted something festive and homey. Maybe it was a waste of money, but I sure like having it in the room.
Carrying it home on the U-Bahn was fun.
Here's how it looks:

I picked up the Santa glasses at a party last night...I can't decide if they're super awesome on the tree or super creepy. Thoughts?
Here's how it looks in the dark, with the Rathaus tower illuminated in the background:

Check out Jim Gaffigan's take on the tradition of Christmas trees:

He cracks me up...one of my favorite comedians. I was listening to him on the U-Bahn today and had to stifle my laughter.
Bis bald,
D.

Weinachtsmärkte

2009-12-09T14:52:00.000-08:00

Around this time of year in Germany, every available plaza is turned into a winter wonderland. Small little huts are erected, artificial ponds iced over, and fun carnival rides set up. These are Christmas markets (Weinachtsmärkte), and there are supposedly 60 in Berlin alone!
Many of the Weinachtsmärkte traditions are centered around food and drink (my kinda traditions), including:
-Glühwein
-Lebkuchen (gingerbread)
-Stollen (fruit cake-esque breadstuffs)
-Schaumküssen (little marshmallow domes covered in flavored chocolate)
-Quarkbällchen (deep-fried balls of quark, a kind of white cheese which German people tend to eat in a dessert-y context)
-Berliner (jelly doughnuts)
-Every kind of sausage (wurst) under the sun
-Several variations of potato (Kartoffel) products (drool)
-Gulash mit Nudeln
-Mushrooms (Champignon) and cauliflower (Blumenkohl) in sauce
-chocolate (Schokolade) covered apples (Äpfel) and bananas (Bananen) and candy apples
-Roasted nuts (Nüssen) of every type, including hazelnuts (Mandeln) with multiple flavors, including spicy chili!
And much, much, more (not all of it traditional...there's an "Asia-Imbiß" (Asian snack stand) at one market).
Tonight I went to Berliner Weinachtszeit, the market by the Rote Rathaus, for dinner. I stopped by a stand with a freestanding stone oven next to it. They were pulling out pan after pan of fresh-baked bread. It smelled amazing. They then proceeded to stuff it with cheese and ham and slap some sour cream and herbs on top. You bets believe I got me some o that.
I continued to wander, picked up some Christmas gifts, and eventually also sampled a fresh apple-stuffed pastry. Mmm.
I also picked up some roasted peanuts to take home. Glorious.
I visited that market and the main Alexanderplatz one on Sunday afternoon and took some pictures.
These gingerbread hearts with love messages written on them in frosting were a fixture at Oktoberfest and it turns out they are at Christmas markets too:

My friend and I were thrilled with one elaborate ornament shop with an entire section devoted to food ornaments. Trust the Germans to make Christmas ornaments devoted to booze:

And they had CHEESE ones as well:

There was also a marine mammals section...I ask you, who wouldn't want a little Christmas walrus to brighten up their day?

We were joking about having a living room full of themed Christmas trees. If I win the lottery...
In the Rathaus market, there's a big ferris wheel:

MEAT:

And, charmingly, the guy who smooths the ice rink wears a polar bear suit as he rides the Zamboni:

I also checked out the smaller market at the Kulturbrauerei and took this picture of the whirling swing ride:

Tonight as I ate my cheese-stuffed bread thing, I wandered over to the ice rink. Perfect timing, because as soon as I found a spot, special music started playing and everyone looked up to see...Santa (der Weinachtsman) in his sleigh soaring over us! Suspended beneath him on a fake cloud was the Christkind (a blond teenage girl dressed as an angel of some sort). The sleigh stopped halfway and as she waved, Santa gestured while a prerecorded message of Christmas good cheer rang out from the speakers. He said he wished he could stay in Berlin, and listed several landmarks visible from his sleigh, but had to press on. Then fireworks went off at the back of the sleigh and off he went...to the end of the wire. Then the sleigh came backwards again to its starting point.
It was super awesome!
Up next: a much delayed post on KDW.
Bis bald,
D.

Wieder in Berlin

2009-12-03T06:11:00.000-08:00

I'm back!
And it is bloody freezing cold here. Yesterday when I left the office, it was 1 degrees Celsius. 1 degrees! That's only one above freezing!!!
The upside is that everything is looking very festive for the holiday season. Riding the tram through Alexanderplatz I was almost pressed up against the glass trying to take in all the stalls in the Weinachtsmarkt (Christmas market), and today I biked past the humongous one behind Alexa (a mall near Alex), which now has a full-size ferris wheel!!!
I am so excited to start exploring the markets this weekend. Stay tuned!
Bis bald,
D.

Urlaub

2009-11-19T14:13:00.001-08:00

As I writing this I am sitting at home in Brooklyn, NY!
When I walked off the plane I was thirsty and was thrilled to turn a corner and discover...a water fountain!!!
Ah, to be back in the land of free water. Mmm refreshing.
It was pretty surreal driving home on a route I knew so well and walking into my family house.
As I left the flat in Berlin this morning, I felt very glad knowing I would be coming back in ten days. I guess for all my homesickness I'm getting comfy in Berlin :)
I think I'm going to catch myself saying "hallo" and "tschüssi" and "schuldigung" while I'm back! I'm in the habit now.
Anyhoo the blog will be on hiatus for a week or so while I go on vacation with the fam!
Bis bald,
D.

Lohengrin

2009-11-17T14:38:00.000-08:00

On Sunday I had the good luck to be taken to a production of Wagner's Lohengrin at the Staatsoper in Berlin. In a German literature class my freshman year, I studied this opera and found it very moving. One line in particular stuck with me. I guess it is different in different translations; I have it written down from the one we used in the class as "We can both escape the restless world,/and every thought that’s not of love forget," but a translation I recently found online says, "Now ev'ry pent-up thought our hearts may own/No rash intruder this sweet hour shall fret." The German original is, according to this online text, "Nun sollen wir der Welt entronnen sein,/Kein Laoscher darf des Herzens Griissen nah'n." I translate this roughly as "Now we should be escaped from the world/No eavesdropper may approach the heart's [? I can't find a translation for 'Griissen,' though das Grinsen is a grin or smirk]." At any rate, it reminded me immediately of a lyric from the song 'When the Angels Play Their Drum Machines' by Hefner: Please draw the curtains, unplug the phone/Let's mess the sheets, and give our hearts a home/We are both adults, our eyes are open wide/Let's push away, the world outside.
Nice, no? If there's one thing I learned in my three weeks of "Rock, Sex, and Rebellion" music class, it's that music is just as repetitive as art and literature.
All of this is totally unrelated to Sunday's experience, haha. It was a very interesting production. I was actually laughing a lot, which I wasn't really expecting to do during five hours of Wagner, especially an opera which is ultimately so sad. But the first few scenes were really quite hilarious. Everyone started in street clothes, carrying puppets in more elaborate and cliche costumes. When Lohengrin arrived, emerging from an interesting circular curtain thing that played a key part in many scenes, he was wearing a laughably elaborate silver costume with chainmail-esque shiny leggings and a helmet with swan feathers. In lieu of an actual giant swan (which he is supposed to arrive on) he carried a single large white feather.
As the opera progressed the characters slowly changed into streotypically elaborate and dated costumes until everyone looked like something out of a high school play. During the climactic bedroom scene, however, when Elsa asked the fatal question, she and Lohengrin were immediately physically separated, the stage split in two as they reached for each other, Elsa choking back sobs, and the chorus slowly appeared, back in their street clothes.
For the final scene everyone involved was once again dressed normally, except for Lohengrin and the insane Ortrud.
It was really very well done. I enjoyed it immensely, and plan to take advantage of the operas here in Berlin again in the future!
Bis bald,
D.

Mauerfall 2009

2009-11-17T11:03:00.000-08:00

One week ago, on November 9th, 2009, was the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall (Mauerfall; Mauer=wall). Obviously it is a date that means a great deal to the city of Berlin and to Germany in general, and there were huge celebrations last Monday night at Brandenburger Tor (the Brandenburg Gate).
It was freezing and raining, but since I missed die Riesen celebrating der Tag der Deutchen Einheit, I knew I would seriously regret not going to this.
I stationed myself right near the line of dominoes across from the Holocaust Memorial with a view of a large TV screen showing the various happenings, such as speeches from world leaders like Sarkozy and Hillary Clinton and of course Merkel (Angie, the locals around me called her, haha) and performances from the Berlin philharmonic, Placido Domingo, and Bon Jovi (wtf?). As I mentioned in a previous post, I had planned to participate in the Mauer Mob, but I had a good spot by the dominoes and I reeeally wanted to see them fall. I thought I would be able to do both, but the domino-knocking was so delayed that I ended up being there long after the Mauer Mob was over and done with.
I'd like to say it was worth it but honestly I think all the hoopla seriously distracted from the real meaning of the events it was supposed to be celebrating. I mean, Bon Jovi? Was that really necessary?
As I headed home, however, soaked and cold and somewhat grumpy, I saw the final section of dominoes being knocked over on a giant TV screen--and then the Brandenburg Gate exploded in fireworks. Suddenly, a huge fireworks show shot out of the Tiergarten right in front of me. It was all I could do to stop and stare in gleeful awe.
I described in a previous post the magic of falling snow--well to me a good fireworks display inspires the same reaction :)
After all was said and done, I'm glad I was there to celebrate.

Bis bald,
D.

Ikono TV Blog

2009-11-16T16:26:00.001-08:00

The blog for the company I work for is actually pretty tite. Check it out!

Qype: Restaurant 44 im Swissôtel in Berlin

2009-11-16T09:56:00.001-08:00

Berlin - Eating & Drinking - Restaurants - Gourmet

This meal will go down as one of the absolute best I have ever had the good fortune to enjoy.
I made a reservation for me, my aunt and my uncle at 9:30pm on a Friday night, the latest they will seat. The staff was the epitome of courteous and welcoming, speaking perfect English for the benefit of my non-Deutsch-speaking relatives. We were seated at a corner table overlooking the Ku'Damm's night lights. The tables were very generously spaced and we felt very well looked after.
We decided on the four course menu. I had artichoke, tuna, lamb, and a selection of cheese. My aunt had artichoke, king prawn, venison, and valrhona chocolate cake, and my uncle had quail, king prawn, coalfish, and chocolate cake as well.
Everything was innovatively prepared with creative uses of ingredients and beautifully plated.
The artichoke was served with little bits of heavenly creamy smoked mozzarella, chunks of tomato and slices of dessicated tomato (surprisingly sweet and chewy), some greens and a scoop of olive oil sorbet.
The tuna came in little perfectly seared cubes, served with brussel sprouts, shallot cream and duck pastrami (see what I mean about creative combinations?)
The crusted lamb saddle was the most flavorful and tender lamb I have ever tasted. I almost orgasmed when I tasted it. It came with two beautiful pastry tubes filled with creamy goat cheese and some veggies.
If that description didn't make you drool, you must be crazy.
Yes this place is expensive, but it is worth every penny. I recommend it highly for your next special occasion meal.

Check out my review of Restaurant 44 im Swissôtel - I am insizlane - on Qype

Berlin Redux

2009-11-16T09:14:00.001-08:00

Last weekend, a friend I made at Oktoberfest visited from Darmstadt, and showing him around gave me an excuse to wander around some of Berlin's more famous sites and take photos. It was a beautiful clear sunny day with blue skies (unbelievable!). We started at the East Side Gallery, the longest stretch of the Berlin wall still standing, on the banks of the Spree between Kreuzberg and Friedrichshain. It has been painted all along its length by various artists with a range of images, here's a sampling:
GET HUMAN

Kissy kissy

A different kissy kissy...one of the more famous images

Shadows in the night

At the end of the East Side Gallery is the Oberbaumbrücke, a beautiful brick bridge over the Spree, which the U1 train runs across, as did Lola in Lola Rennt:

And the view was wonderful with the unseasonable sunniness and blue skies:

We ate a delicious Indian lunch, with real spice in the lamb vindaloo (!), and then made our way to Mitte and the Brandenburg Gate. As we walked along Unter den Linden, it slowly dawned on me that Parisen Platz would be totally overrun because of the Mauerfall festivities, and indeed it was:

We shouldered through the crowds to the other side, en route to the Holocaust Memorial, and found the "dominoes" that had been set up between Potsdamer Platz and the Parliament Building along where the wall once stood:

They were each decorated by artists, schoolchildren, etc. and were going to be knocked down Monday night. It was really fun to see all the different designs, and to pause and think about the historical moments behind Monday's celebrations. After checking out the Holocaust Memorial (kind of ruined by the Mauerfall crowds running rampant), we headed over to the Reichstag, beautiful in the fading light:

then behind it to see the tail end of the domino line. The Parliament building looked beautiful by the water:

Afterwards, as it was getting dark, we made our way to Kunsthaus Tacheles. I couldn't believe I hadn't been yet! It's a big building in Mitte where a bunch of artists squat and have studios and put on exhibitions and sell work and such. We wandered the courtyard, where there were several small galleries, indoor and out, and which was littered with sculptures large and small. Round a corner at the back, in a quiet and empty area, I found a big iron sculpture lit from below:

and two mysterious mini-igloos glowing from within:

It was really neat. I will definitely go back, especially if I can figure out how to get inside the actual building!
A bit worn out, I finally headed home, where I rested up a bit before cooking dinner with Celia. It was a good Berlin day!
Bis bald,
D.

Konzerte

2009-11-16T08:50:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I went last week to see Grizzly Bear at Postbahnhof. Head on over to antlervision to see a few posts with their songs.
Tonight, I am headed to Passion Pit! Since I've had 'Sleepyhead' (see below) stuck in my head for days, I am mega-excited.
Stay tuned for many more posts to come...I've been getting behind lately :)
Bis bald,
D.

(part of that video was filmed right near my neighborhood in Brooklyn! I also love the Hood Internet's mashup of that song with Chamillionaire)

Glühwein und mehr

2009-11-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

We are well and truly entering into winter here in Berlin. Last Thursday it was raining when I left my apartment to get on the U-Bahn. When I arrived at Alexanderplatz, however, the rain had turned into snow! It was wondrous. As I stood in the tram shelter, staring in joy, a whole flock of little brown chickadees, also seeking shelter, crowded around my feet peeping urgently. I beamed down at them until my tram arrived. What a great way to start the day! The big fat flakes looked beautiful from the office window, which has a view of a courtyard with a red brick building across the way.
Anyway, since it is getting so cold now, glühwein is beginning to be served all over the place. It's spiced red wine, served hot. Mmmm--the perfect pick-me-up on a cold night. "Glüh" does not mean glue. "das Glühen" means glow, or roasting. Glow-wine :)
So last Tuesday Celia and I decided to make some glühwein at home, and by "make" I mean buy prepackaged glühwein and heat it up. At Kaufland, a box of Oma's (granny's) Glühwein costs 79 cents. 79 cents!!! A bottle of Wintertraum (winter dream) Glühwein costs 99 cents.
We tried both. And thus got tipsy for 1.78eur. Amazing!!!
I asked Celia what Glühwein looks like, and she said it's a bottle with pictures of Christmas. She was right:

I hope Alexanderplatz will look like this when the Christmas market is up:

And sometimes, glühwein comes in a box (apparently). An adorable, 79 cent box:

Celia liked it I think:

The cooking process was quite complicated as you can see:

mmmm warm and yummy in the tummy. Germany sure knows how to party.
Quick rundown on what I've been up to since then:
-Dienstag: My Holga-toting friend from the reading last week joined us for glühwein and a drink at a bar in my neighborhood, Ä bar.
-Donnerstag: They also serve food at the Weinerei, so I went and had a "pay what you feel like" dinner with my "pay what you feel like" crappy champagne. Good times. Then Celia and I watched a truly disturbing yet hilarious movie, Happiness, by the brilliantly dark Todd Solondz (of Welcome to the Dollhouse fame) before meeting her former roommate, who likes to be called Space Ribbon, for a night of drinking and dancing at Monarch in Xberg and Golden Gate near Jannowitzbrücke. At GG we ran into one of the DJs from betahaus a couple weeks ago, that was fun.
-Freitag: Another go at Maria Bonita Mexican (mmm mole enchiladas). Then it was the opening for my photographer friend's Ausstellung (exhibit) with 6 photos of me in it! The show looked great. Afterwards, we headed in a big merry group to a classy house party in Friedrichshain with delicious homemade food, punch, mojitos, and pureed raspberry shots. Girl knows how to throw a party.
-Samstag: Sightseeing with a friend from Oktoberfest who's visiting from Darmstadt. Cooked at home: ratatouille and rosemary-lemon chicken (should have taken pictures! It was delicious). Then out to a birthday party in the neighborhood where I danced with a woman in a skeleton cape and pinned dried rose petals to a dried rose to make her a birthday corsage.
Heute (today): OMG BRUNCH. At Boxhagenerplatz. Sooooo much wonderful cheese, scrambled eggs, BAKED BEANS (!!!!), delicious little würstchen (sausages), various cold salads, etc. Had a wander around the flea market and bought a Darth Vader tote bag I've had my eye on (might post a picture later; it's hilarious). Then Celia and I shared two huge delicious cupcakes and walked it off all the way back to Neukölln.
On the agenda this week:
-Montag: the 20th anniversary of the Mauerfall (Mauer=wall). It's a really big deal. I'm going to try and check out the festivities near Brandenburger Tor (a whole line of giant "dominoes" being knocked down; speeches from various VIPs including Hillary Clinton, etc.) and am also participating in Mauer Mob. It'll be crazy.
-Dienstag: our second supper club!
-Mittwoch: Grizzly Bear & St. Vincent concert!
Bis bald,
D.

In den Straßen

2009-11-03T06:52:00.000-08:00

Cultural differences time!
Ok so it's really weird how Germans NEVER jaywalk. They take the crosswalk lights very seriously. There have honestly been times when it was the middle of the night, and there were no cars for MILES, and I came across someone patiently waiting for the light to change.
I, of course, barge right on through. Sometimes even when there is traffic. Because I'm that much of a New Yorker. This results in lots of stares, some disbelieving, some scornful.
The worst is the intersection right by my apartment. The U-Bahn exit is on a traffic island in between the two lanes of a large street. I have to cross one of these lanes to get to the U-Bahn, and both to get to the supermarket. Since the island is rather small, when a train lets out far more people than can comfortably fit are jammed onto it. Thus, I often find myself stuck behind a wall of patiently waiting locals, knowing that I could cross perfectly safely even though *gasp!* the light is red! My solution is usually just to push through and cross anyway, resulting in even more incredulous stares. Sometimes I fancy I even see a headshake and tut-tutting from the elderly. I just seem to offend the locals at every turn, hahaha.
Another street-related oddity: dog poo. Everywhere. I realized upon seeing so much of it here that you really don't see that much in New York anymore. It's been ages since stepping in dog poo seemed like a real concern, or happened to me for that matter. Yet here, the poo is all around, and I have indeed stepped in it once. There are, for one thing, far more dogs in this city than in NY. Eric also theorizes that since dog owners here pay taxes on their dogs, they feel like they don't need to clean up after them. But--I asked--what do the taxes go to? Well...cleaning up the streets. So it seems like it is a vicious circle. I immediately imagined Angela Merkel having a press conference. "Dog owners, if you can act like adults, and show us you can be responsible, and clean up after your dogs, than we will remove the dog tax. But if you take advantage of our trust, we'll have to bring it back." Hahaha. We are contemplating a guerilla art project where we stick little signs saying "return to sender" into the poos.
On another note, we have scheduled the next supper club! Head on over to the club blog to see the menu and details, as well as other food-and-eating-in-Berlin related posts.
Bis bald,
D.

Halloween

2009-11-02T20:36:00.000-08:00

Halloween is not much celebrated in Germany. Most Germans think it is a silly American custom. In recent years, however, more people, especially young people, have begun to embrace it, and I had high hopes of finding fun on Halloween night.
I had been told that German people think all Halloween costumes should be scary, but I figured there are enough expats in this town that I should be able to go as what I want. So I planned on being a zebra. I headed to Schöneberg and one of Berlin's only costume stores to find facepaint and false eyelashes. When I got there, there was a line out the door! The place was packed. It took me ages to get what I needed. I figured that was promising for the party potential that night.
Armed and ready, I dressed in my zebra PJs and applied stripy facepaint and black and silver false eyelashes. The effect was, I thought, quite fetching:

Celia came over, and was dressed as a HIPpopotamus:

We happily headed out to a bar called S.I.N. (stranded in neverland) not too far from my apartment that advertised free zombie punch, a costume contest, and a live band. The zombie punch was tasty and the band was wacky (one of their 'members' seemed emplyed solely for doing the robot on one side of the stage), but the costumes, when there were any, were indeed all scary. Most people seemed confused or scornful at my outfit. But whatever. I got up on stage and pranced around during the costume contest. I was booted out after the first round! Some chick holding a bloody cleaver and claiming not to remember what she was dressed as did better! It was rigged I tell you. Although I do not begrudge the girl dressed as Barbarella her spot at all. I have wanted to be Barbarella for a while now.
Anyhoo that got boring quick and we were planning to head to Watergate (a big cheesy club guaranteed to have dancing and expats) but in the U-Bahn station we met a group of Germans who exhorted us to join them instead at a German Halloween party in the middle of Volkspark Friedrichshain. They said it was the BEST party in Berlin that night. So we went. The cover was ridiculously expensive, and the cobweb decorations kept getting in my way while dancing (I found one tangled in my earring when I got home), and the party was pretty small. But the music was pretty bomb and it's always fun to DANCE! Once again, however, I felt my costume did not receive any props. Everyone was dressed scary! Just like Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls! It kinda bummed me out. I wish we had found an expat party.
Having paid that cover I did not feel like paying another, especially since I was kinda grumpy, so we called it a night.
All in all a fun night but kinda disappointing. Sometimes I do miss America!
Bis bald,
D.

Potsdam

2009-10-31T18:06:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to Potsdam, a town near Berlin simply full to bursting with royal palaces, and a tour guide friend showed me and another friend around.
One 10eur ticket gets you a Tageskarte, a day ticket with access to most of the buildings scattered around the area.
We started with the Neue Palast, an imposing edifice that looks like it is made of bricks but is actually just painted to look like them:

The servant's quarters across the way were almost more impressive architecturally, funnily enough. Inside, they make you wear big felt slippers to protect the floors from your shoes. These are very fun to glide around in, if a bit slippy. We had to wear them in all the palaces. The first big room we entered was a shell grotto (mom you would have loved it). All the walls had shells cascading down them, the corners had sea monsters made out of shells, the marble floor was inlaid in shell shapes, and precious stones were laid into the wall in thick layers. It was pretty incredible. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside. There was a room with a Titian and a van Dyck among others but it was so poorly lit I could barely see them. Upstairs, we saw a huge marble ballroom with an inlaid floor.
Behind the palace a little ways, in the park, there is a small pavilion:

One of the Fredericks (I easily lost track of which was which) built it as a tribute to the friendship between him and his sister when she married and left his household. Teddy, are you paying attention? Hahaha.
Next we went to a much smaller palace for one of the princes. It was done in Italian style and had a lovely grape arbor round back, plus a cool sitting area built in such a way as to project one's voice to the house's porch. It was pretty neat. Inside, it was much more liveable and cozy than the larger palace. One guest room was decorated to look like the interior of a tent, which was a really cool effect.
We wandered the grounds and found the "Chinese" tea house:

decorated with laughably inaccurate golden figures, from which tourists apparently like to steal various appendages:

Along the way we also stopped at a small Roman-inspired building, with this cool flounder fountain outside:

Apparently one of the Fredericks was a bit chubby, and was nicknamed flounder. Instead of being offended, he embraced it. In fact, there were china sets in the small Italian palace with golden flounders on them!
Eventually we came to the Orangerie:

where we climbed to the top of the tower despite my companions' mild fears of heights. The climb involved a narrow spiral staircase which could only admit traffic flow in one direction, so there was a stoplight to tell you when people were coming down:

The view of the neighboring park and countryside was really something:

We also toured the interior--more impossibly ostentatious rooms and furniture.
Eventually we came to Sanssouci, perhaps the most famous of the palaces, built by Frederick the Great. The name means "without worries" in French, the principal language of Frederick, who apparently never cared much for German. His architect suggested that when the palace was finished, he would be able to live "sans souci." Frederick replied that as emperor, he could never live such. Apparently the phrase intrigued him, however, as he had it inscribed on the palace front, but with a comma between the two words. The comma is the exact center of the palace. To its left, under the word 'sans', were his living quarters, music room, and other sources of pleasure and distraction. To its right, under 'souci', his office, state rooms, and other things related to the business of being a leader. He is buried outside the palace, alongside his hunting dogs.
The palace:

and seen from the landscaped gardens in the park below:

Next we perused the picture gallery, the first building expressly for the display of art ever built in Europe. Many Renaissance masters were present. My favorite paintings were a van Dyck of Mary Magdalene in repentance and a lovely big Caravaggio. I think my tour guide friend was a bit astonished at how long his friend and I dwelt on the paintings!
We took a little break in downtown Potsdam and had some pastries and coffee. The town is adorable! It was much better restored than Berlin after the war.
Next we found ourselves at another palace, deceptively small from the outside, but with 100+ rooms, in English Tudor style. This is where the Potsdam conference happened at the end of WWII, and the portions open to the public are mostly devoted to that history. It was originally built as a family residence, however, and was really a charming building, if a bit incongruous.
Finally, we scooted across the park and just made the last tour at the marble palace, a smaller palace intended for royal children and their families. The highlights here were several beautiful and intricate parquet floors and a large secretary made to look like a mini palace with lots of secret drawers and compartments, as well as lovely views of the lake.
When we finished, it was 6ish and getting dark, and we wearily boarded the regional train for the crowded half hour ride back to Berlin.
All in all I'm glad I took the day off work to see it before the smaller palaces close for the winter!

Bis bald,
D.

Blauer Himmel

2009-10-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

This morning I was shocked to see blue skies and fluffy white clouds through our bathroom skylight! The sky has been gray gray gray for ages now...and often sprinkling with rain. I took the opportunity to bike to work, and it was glorious. Now of course it's gray again, but I fancy I can see the sun just peeking through in the distance...fingers crossed for a pleasant bike home.
Sorry I haven't written in a while...things get busy! A post with some pictures from last week's Potsdam trip is forthcoming.
This week has been full of chill Berlin evenings...on Monday Eric and I strolled down the street to a nearby restaurant for a friend's performance piece. Our friend did the video projections, but the meat of the performance was his friend, a Latvian woman with a mop of curly red hair, clad in a black lace bodysock and little else, and singing Russian and Latvian folktunes. She was accompanied by an American cellist and Finnish pianist. Only in Berlin! She crawled on our tables and danced with strangers and was charming and funny and had a lovely voice. It was really something to behold. The afterparty, I hear, involved a hat fashion show, but I unfortunately did not attend.
Tuesday I went to my friend's apartment in Kreuzberg (Xberg) and found it to be quite awesome. He lives with 6 people in a co-op kinda situation and they have a lovely big kitchen/hangout area. he has painted a huge wall mural with a long quote from 'Ulysses.' I think maybe I want to paint a mural in my room now!
Speaking of interior decoration, Eric has festooned our hallway and it feels a lot less blank and cold now than it once did.
On Wednesday I went to a reading of a book about Berlin, written by a friend of a friend. It was funny and well-written and I am excited to get to the book (though currently I am deeply engrossed in my first reading of Pride and Prejudice). It was at a Russian-themed bar called Kaffee Bürger with great vintage signs and wallpaper. Liked the vibe there, and made a new friend. I struck up a conversation because she was carrying a Holga, yay lomo!
Saturday is Halloween...I am going to dress up, though the Germans supposedly do not celebrate much. I am sure we will find something crazy to do.
Bis bald,
D.

CD Supper Club

2009-10-26T08:36:00.000-07:00

1 cut thumb
1 burned finger
1 cracked glass
1 snapped knife
and 5 bottles of wine later, the inaugural meal of CD supper club has been brought off successfully!
CD is for Celia & Diana as well as Casual Dining and Crazy Delicious and any number of other things :)
Our menu was:
Smoked salmon pinwheels (thanks for the recipe mom!)
Chicken stuffed with goat cheese and sundried tomatoes (thanks for the recipe aunty amy!)
Fruited coucous pilaf
Cucumber salad
Roasted eggplants & zucchini
Grilled red & yellow peppers
& Lemon cheesecake for dessert (Celia's mother's recipe)
We had posted an ad on Berlin craigslist and on toytown, a popular English-language forum here, and received 4 responses. 2 couldnät make the date but wanted to get on the mailing list, and two were in! To fill the extra spots, we invited friends like mad, and eventually we had 11 attendees: me and Celia, my two roomies, the two strangers, and 5 friends from various places, known of whom knew each other. It was shaping up to be a good night.
We shopped at the Turkish Market on Friday and at Kaufland on Saturday. Saturday evening, we met to make the cheesecake and cucumber salad, which had to marinate overnight.
On Sunday, we went out to brunch at a popular vegan place near Celia's. Brunch here is a bit different than at home. Most places, 'brunch' consists of a buffet, mostly cold (meats, cheeses, breads, spreads) but sometimes with eggs, etc. for one (usually quite low) price. I was resistant at first (I want me some eggs benedict when I go for brunch) but after Saturday's feast I am a definite convert. Mmm...bread, cheese, and tomato. I could live on that. Plus yogurt, muesli (I am ADDICTED to the stuff now, much prefer it to sugary granola), bean salad, lentil spread and something called 'griespudding' which is like rice pudding but with something much smaller than rice (couscous perhaps?). Afterwards, we went to the HUGE flea market at the Mauerpark cause I'd been wanting to check it out. I have to wonder why anyone shops at real stores here--there are so many awesome markets scattered around the city.
And then it was time to head back to Neukölln and get cookin! We set up my room as the dining room (it really has a lot of space!) with some plates and cutlery borrowed from Celia:

We set out the wine (an essential component):

And the salmon pinwheels:

And then we made the rest of the food, and people started arriving, and it was wonderful!
The strangers turned out to be: Rene, a Danish pilot, and Kate, an economics officer at the US embassy from New Jersey. 3 of our 'friends' didn't show, but everyone ate heartily and we still almost finished the food, not to mention all five bottles of wine. There was lots of laughter, the food was delicious (if I do say so myself), and everyone seemed to have a good time. Afterwards we were happy to find that not only did we break even on costs (phew!) we even made a couple euros each! That means we were essentially paid to cook and eat.
Eric helped out and made a playlist:

Action shot of people beginning to eat:

And everyone posing nicely:

My delicious plate of food (nom nom nom):

The amazing cheesecake!:

And the aftermath. I think we used every dish, cooking pot, and utensil in the kitchen (including the cleaver, which we used to serve the cheesecake, haha):

We had a dishwashing party to some Belle & Sebastian tunes and most of it was done pretty quick.
The past few days, the leftovers have been great: I had couscous and some eggplant smeared with goat cheese filling for lunch yesterday and scrambled eggs with eggplant, green onion, parsley, and cilantro for both dinner last night and breakfast this morning. I'm thinking the leftover cinnamon-cookie crust has got to go to a pie sometime this week.
And that was it! The first supper club. I think we will definitely do it again in future.
Bis bald,
D.

Freitag

2009-10-24T02:55:00.000-07:00

Another fun and crazy Friday!
For lunch I finally resolved to try a place I had heard was the best burrito in Berlin (not saying much). It was actually decent! And there was spice! I reviewed it on Qype (see below), which is like the European Yelp. I'll definitely be going back there when I have burrito cravings.
After work I met Celia at the Turkish Market to buy ingredients for Sunday's supper club. I looove the Turkish Market. During my pricing trip on Tuesday, I picked up avocados and a big beautiful mango. Mmmm. Since we were there, we bought stuff to make dinner as well, deciding to finally sample the delicious-looking salmon at the fish stall. When we got home, we cooked a feast: salmon, mango salsa, guacamole, and a salad. yum yum.

I was feeling tired but Berlin never rests and there were things to do!!! First up was an art show at Stadtbad Wedding, a cool venue which used to be a Stadtbad, or public pool. We wandered around the changing rooms and showers upstairs, which had neat little installations in them, and checked out the pool, but we couldn't actually go in it :( Pictures to come. Next was a Simian Mobile Disco show that Eric was on the guest list for but we didn't have tickets to. We sidled up to the front of the line and said we were on the guest list, then they let us in to the counter where we paid as if we had waited on line. It was a good little trick and we got in just in time to see the main event. It was an AWESOME show. Finally, there was a WG party around the corner from our apartment which was way epic.
I'm excited for supper club tomorrow!
Bis bald,
D.

Qype: Dolores Gourmet Burritos in Berlin

2009-10-24T02:28:00.001-07:00

Berlin - Eating & Drinking - Restaurants - Mexican - Eating & Drinking - Restaurants - American - Eating & Drinking - Restaurants - Southwestern - Eating & Drinking - Fastfood & Takeaway

So I think I've figured out why so many people hate on Dolores, claiming that only Germans would think it is Mexican food: to a certain segment of the US population, Chipotle is considered somewhat blasphemous. Such people only consider real California taquerias as actual Mexican food. Well, I happen to like Chipotle, and Dolores is a lot like it. Don't get me wrong--it can't hold a candle to my beloved California staple, La Bamba, or even your garden variety El Grullense. But dear lord--their habanero sauce actually has spice to it!!! That alone is enough to make me go back. With the dearth of any Mexican in Berlin, much less good Mexican, I will happily accept Dolores as a source to stave off my Mexican hunger pains.
Next time, I'm getting the lime rice instead of the Spanish rice (tasted a bit strange) and maybe skipping the whole euro(!!!) they charge for guacamole.

Check out my review of Dolores Gourmet Burritos - I am insizlane - on Qype

Berlin Illuminiert

2009-10-23T05:41:00.000-07:00

For the past 10 days or so has been the Festival of Lights in Berlin, and on Monday I went to check it out. Basically the idea is a bunch of Berlin landmarks are lit up with colorful lights, projections, or patterns. A friend lent me a lovely fancy Canon, a roll of film, and a tripod and we set out to see the sights. We started at Alex and the Fernsehturm, which was quite boring--just colored lights shining on it. Next we walked down towards the Berliner Dom. Along the way we wandered through the atrium at the Radisson which had some smaller light installations and light-based artworks for sale. They were unremarkable. Then we rounded the corner, and there was a lovely swirly color pattern on the back side of the Berliner Dom. With spotlights crisscrossing the sky, and all of it reflected in the Spree river below, it was a really beautiful sight.

Then we went around the front, and it was even better: a bright and colorful pattern all over the overwrought baroque surface of the building. We stood around there waiting for the different patterns and shooting pictures for a while, keeping warm with frequent pulls of brandy from our respective flasks. After shooting our fill of the Dom we continued down Unter den Linden and my favorite light effect: each individual tree was lit with a different color, creating a rainbow effect down the whole avenue. It was magical. And so simple! Just two bright lights at the base of each tree, pointed upwards, with different colored gels on them.

We continued to the Brandenberg Gate, which was kinda boring, just different colors changing, but we shot it anyway. The best view of it was from inside the park heading away towards the Reichstag--the illuminated columns were framed perfectly in between the black tree silhouettes. The Reichstag was, inexplicably, not lit up, and the lighting on the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) was pretty boring, so we called it a night. But it was fun! I hadn't shot manually in years. The film's not developed yet, but I'm excited to see how it turns out.
Bis bald,
D.

PS. from saturday:

noch eine Wochenende

2009-10-19T04:52:00.001-07:00

Another weekend come and gone. How the time does fly!
Exciting news: I finally joined a gym! I kinda hurt my ankle, and I haven't been able to run for a week or so. Plus it was so dern cold last week, and it's only going to get worse, and I didn't want the weather to be an excuse for not exercising! So I joined a gym that is literally a block from the apartment. It felt really good to get back to weightlifting on Thursday morning.
On Friday was something I had been looking forward to all week: dinner at a Thai place in our neighborhood that does a 3eur buffet once a week! Eric and I and Eric's friend Christian went over there and it was really good. There was a nice minced pork dish that I really liked, but both Eric and Christian thought it was uncomfortably spicy! It didn't taste the least bit spicy to me. Hahaha.
Then we went to a place near Postdamer Platz to see a music performance Eric had heard about: the male half of Swedish duo The Knife. I like them so I thought the solo show would be cool. The venue was a neat gallery with an installation in one room. The performance space was a tiny room lined with black garbage bags. Turns out the music was basically just an incredibly loud wall of noise punctuated by various grating noises. It hurt my ears, so I went into the other room, from which I could hear it just as well but without the discomfort. It was...interesting. Josh and I headed home afterwards without bothering to stay for the second musical act.
On Saturday I did a full-body weights circuit at the gym which was fun. In the afternoon, Josh's brother Joel was putting on a protest at the Schlossplatz to decry the building of a fake Prussian castle on what is now a lovely open lawn. The slogan was "Schloss mit Lustig" or "Cancel the Castle," and they had a bouncy castle inflated on the lawn and Burger King crowns with the Schloss mit Lustig logo on them. They partnered with a group that puts on parties whose schtick is that they hand out free thrift store jackets with their logo stamped on them at events. It was cold and rainy, so I took full advantage of this and donned both a neat black blazer (under my coat) and a rain jacket with a hood (over my coat). With those and my crown I was probably quite a sight bouncing on the castle. The sun soon came out and I biked home much happier and warmer.
Later that evening was the 'soli-party', the solidarity party for the protest. It was at Betahaus, a cafe where Josh and Joel work, and the castle was set up in the courtyard. I manned the door for a while, and we had a whole bag full of nifty letter and number stamps that a friend found in an abandoned building to stamp the hands of people who paid. Not many people actually showed up, so I ended up making all sorts of words and stamping them all over myself and everyone else.
Around 5:30am we finally gave up--there were only five of us left and the DJ had gone. At this point in the evening we bestowed stamps upon ourselves that read: WiNNerS YeS! Despite a shower, that is still very much visible on my arm. Eric, Francisco, and I, the survivors, promised Joel to be back at Betahaus at 2pm to clean up, and then headed to another party on Kottbusser Damm and danced our little feetsies off. When that shut down around 8 or 9, we went to a bar and had a round of beers. There was some sketchy clientele in that place. Finally, we went out for breakfast. All the families and old people at the breakfast place, not to mention the waitresses, were scandalized by our messy, stamped, crowned appearances. We were made to sit outside on rain-dampened patio furniture, but at least we got to eat. When we finally walked through the door at noon, Josh was just on his way out to go clean. We promised to be there at 2, sat down to listen to some comedy, and the next thing I knew I was waking up at 4. We were no longer needed for cleaning.
Eric wanted to go for a run (crazy man) so I biked along with him to check out the Soviet Memorial at Treptower Park. It was massive and impressive and beautiful in the golden almost-sunset light. Behind the memorial, there's a lovely lake. It was a really pleasant trip.
In the evening I had a friend to dinner and cooked pork chops with roasted potatoes and brussel sprouts. My roommates can't believe I told them I didn't think I was a good cook when I moved in, but the truth is that I just never really tried, or had much opportunity to try. All I do is follow recipes, I don't know if that makes me a good cook. But I am really getting to enjoy cooking, and so having recently read about the Sunday Night Dinners in Queens, I got to thinking that maybe I would want to try doing something like that. My friend Celia likes food and cooking as much as I do, so we are starting our own small supper club here in Berlin! The first dinner is this coming Sunday. I'll let you know how it goes :)
Bis bald,
D.

Schlagzeilen

2009-10-16T07:04:00.000-07:00

Some headlines from the recent German news:
Berlin brothel offers green discounts to beat the crisis
Fascist Garden Gnomes Invade Bavarian Town
Naked Rock Musical Proves Too Big a Hit with Nudists
haha.
Bis bald,
D.

Lustig!

2009-10-16T04:34:00.000-07:00

lustig is a fun German word. It technically means funny or amusing, but can also mean something along the lines of joyous, cheerful, or my favorite, "frolicsome."
So: Gestern abend war sehr lustig! Last night was really frolicsome!
The Mountain Goats show was at Magnet Club, right down the street from my office. So instead of going home, I hung out at a friend's place in the neighborhood, Prenzlauer Berg. P-berg or Prenzelberg is known for being kind of yuppified--lots of middle class families and expats. It's a pretty nice area--lots of cute restaurants and shops--but kind of expensive. However the delicious Lebanese veggie wraps with mango sauce that we grabbed for dinner were, at 3eur, a total steal. yum!
I bought a teeny-tiny bottle of questionable whiskey and stashed it about my person and then we headed to the venue. It was small, and packed, and the opening act was on when we got there--a New Zealand guy with a guitar and a strangely whiny voice. We pushed to the front (I've noticed that if you act like you're going somewhere, people in concert crowds just let you do what you want) and had a great view for the main event.
John Darnielle is the core of Mountain Goats, and he didn't even bring his band on this tour. It was just him and a keyboard, then him and a guitar. And it was fan-bloody-tastic. My god. It was such a totally and completely epic show. I could not stop grinning. He claimed not to have played 'This Year', probably his most famous song, yet on this tour, so we lucked out getting to hear that (see video on last post for that song). When he asked for requests I, and several other people, was yelling for 'No Children' (see video below). Eventually he said, "No, I can't play that, I forgot the little machine, I haven't been able to play that all tour." Somehow someone knew that by 'little machine' he meant a capo, and handed him one from the audience. And then he played the song!!! And then he handed the capo back to the guy. It was marvelous.
Not only are his lyrics amazing, but the guy is charming as all hell. The things he says between songs, his little intros, they're all so darn cute! And then when he was taking requests, he would say things like, "No, I don't know that one, I haven't played it in a year" or "I know the HELL out of that one!!!" and then launch right into it.
So yeah it was an epic show.
Afterwards we went to an Erasmus party in Mitte. Erasmus is a student exchange program, and this was their "international semester kick-off party." When you go in, you're supposed to get a sticker of your country's flag so people know where you're from. We skipped that bit, though I still ended up with an American flag on my cheek by the time we left, haha. I believe it was bestowed upon me when I demonstrated my Brooklyn dancing skillz, hahaha. But it was fun to hear some hip-hop for once. And songs with more of a beat goin on then the typical Berlin house music, which is so monotonous it's hard to truly break it down. You just end up kinda swaying. Which is sometimes ok, but I was thrilled to have a chance to really let loose.
Aaaand then it took me two hours to get home. Know how I mentioned that Berlin is so cool cause there's a party every night of the week? Well there isn't a way to get home from said party every night of the week, as the U-Bahn is only 24hours on Fridays and Saturdays. And the night buses during the week run every half hour or so. So it kinda sucks.
Not to mention it was raining. Again. And my shoes got soaked. I can deal with cold, but this constant rain is not fun!
But with a belly full of whiskey and a heart full of Mountain Goats and dance music, I was still feelin fine ;)
Bis bald,
D.

noch mehr Fotos

2009-10-15T06:19:00.000-07:00

Eric & Josh pre-race in front of Schloss Charlottenberg:

My bike (in the currently near-constant rain):

The new art we got for our hallway:

The photo was shot by a couple friends of Josh and Eric's on our roof this summer. It's a little blurry, but the idea is that the boyfriend is wearing a bikini and posing in a cute, coy way; his girlfriend sprawls with a surly look on her face, an open plaid shirt, and a beer in hand. It's pretty hilarious. Maybe when I get the copies of my photo shoot, we can add to our hallway gallery of "pictures taken at the apartment." Hahaha.
Seeing the Mountain Goats tonight! I've heard their live shows are epic.

Bis bald,
D.

Die Wochenende

2009-10-13T01:52:00.000-07:00

On Saturday evening, there was an event in our neighborhood where all the quirky little bars had live music and/or DJs, so we wandered around and checked them out. The first place we went to seemed normal enough. Then Eric led us to the back, and opened a nondescript door, and there was a tiny acoustic concert going on in a dimly lit room. Other places had similar quirks--one had the DJs suspended above the room on a kind of catwalk. Another had a maze of small, dark rooms with clusters of people smoking and murmuring conversations. The weirdest was one with a back room that had two mattresses on the floor, made up with blankets and pillows, a couch, and a projection of a live feed of the front room in nightvision. As we went in, a bunch of people standing at the door seemed to think it hilarious that we would want to. We were the only ones in there. One wall was covered in carpets and when we investigated we found that behind them was yet another small room. This one had three big couch cushions on the floor. And apparently, though I didn't notice it at the time, a big picture of a vagina on the wall. I do not even want to know what these weirdo rooms were for. But it had us giggling like schoolgirls. Anyway, there are some really great little places tucked around here. I like this neighborhood more every day :)
Then I headed to Mitte to catch a midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. They had all the yelling and such in German, but the accompanying live cabaret show was in English, and I'd guess the audience was about half and half. Some of the German things to yell were different (long complicated sentences that no one in the audience seemed able to yell in the prescribed amount of time) and some were direct translations ("Schlampe! Arschloch!"). The guy who played Brad was American and made cheesy jokes the whole time. I got a real kick out of it. The next day I found playing cards and rice in my coat pockets. Hahaha.
On Sunday Eric and Josh were running a 10k race over in Charlottenburg (west Berlin) so I joined them on the half hour U-Bahn ride and cheered them on. Afterwards we took a look at the gardens behind Schloss Charlottenburg and they are really something. Like a mini combination of Stourhead and Versaille: part rigidly laid out formal gardens, part carefully landscaped "wilderness." I bet they're lovely in the summer.
When we got home we went out to a Turkish place for hummus. For 3eur, we each got a bowl of warm creamy delicious hummus with whole chickpeas and herbs in it, plus a big plate of veggies to share and three huge pieces of bread. It was a great lunch. Another good place to know in the neighborhood!
Soon thereafter I headed over to Potsdamer Platz (Berlin's Times Square, basically) and the Sony Center, where they show original language movies. This is where to go if you want to see an American movie in English, otherwise they are usually dubbed into German, which admittedly is probably pretty amusing as well. I met with a friend to see the Time Traveler's Wife (I know, cheesy, but I just read the book and wanted to check it out). It was SO SAD. I felt bad for dragging my friend to it.
Yesterday I baked zucchini bread with the leftover zucchini from Friday. Josh freaked out about how good it was :) I took half the loaf over to my friend's place and we watched another Bruce Campbell movie, Bubba Ho-tep. The basic premise of the movie is this (possible spoilers): Elvis is not actually dead. At the height of his career, he got tired of it all and decided to switch places with one of his impersonators. Unfortunately the contract that would have allowed him to switch back at any time was destroyed in a tragic trailer park barbeque accident, so now he's in a nursing home under someone else's name and no one cares about him except his friend in the nursing home, a black man who claims he is JFK but that the government dyed his skin and put a bag of sand in his head in place of a brain. When a reincarnated ancient Egyptian mummy starts terrorizing the nursing home, the two old crazies must team up to save the day. Sounds stimulating, does it not?
Busy week coming up!
Bis bald,
D.

Drei Tagen

2009-10-10T03:01:00.000-07:00

Mittwoch, Donnerstag, Freitag.
Wednesday, I realized, was the one-month-iversary of my arrival in Berlin!
The day was uneventful, but I felt like the Tuesday night roast was a good celebration :) in the evening, I made a meal that Eric called "very North America": mashed potatoes, peas, and chicken. I had the chicken with Kaufland's version of barbeque sauce. It was...interesting. The sauces here are not up to snuff. And nothing has enough spice. There are tons of Asian restaurants, and even some Mexican ones, but they all tone down the spice for German taste. I haven't tried a Mexican place here yet. I'm kind of scared. But my burrito cravings are coming to the point where I must answer them...
Thursday was a great day. A friend of mine is a photographer and she has a show coming up in November. The show is about women who are outside the norm in terms of what it means to be beautiful. She wanted to photograph me for it, and Thursday morning was our shoot! It was really fun. I accepted copies of the photos in lieu of cash payment, so I'll post some here when I get them.
I was running late, so for lunch I just grabbed a couple quick brötchen at Alexanderplatz. Sandwich fan that I am, I love the little bread rolls stuffed with things that are sold at all the train stations. They often contain surprises; for instance I got what I thought was ham and lettuce and it also included some delightful sour cabbage. They also sell melt-in-your-mouth brie sandwiches...mmm.
That evening was the Camera Obscura concert! I biked over the Oberbaumbrücke to the venue, Postbahnhof am Ostbahnhof. Once there, I met with some friends and got a poster for only 3eur. Usually posters are 15-20USD at concerts in the States so I was very pleased with this:

The show was awesome. The band members are so cool. Two of my friends were freaking out and dancing like madmen, it was great. I managed to take a couple blurry photos:

The only thing is it was really short. They played maybe an hour set, then came back for a half hour-ish encore. This is a trend I have noticed at Berlin concerts. But I guess I don't end up with sore feet and checking my watch like I have at some American marathon-concerts, so it works out. Plus I then had time to go out after and meet a friend of a friend called Udo. We met up near Friedrichstraße and he happened to be hanging out with a bunch of Stanford kids from the Stanford-in-Berlin program this quarter. That made me feel old, old, old. But one of them was a rookie on the rugby team last year, so it was nice to see her again and catch up.
Udo and I were too old and tired to go with the kiddies to a club afterwards, so we headed home. I found a hubcap along the way! It's a pretty good one from Opel and looks good on my wall:

Speaking of my wall, my room is getting more and more my own...with the hubcap, Camera Obscura poster, Major Lazer poster I stole off the street, and my makeshift curtains it is starting to feel more homey.

Yesterday I biked over to the Turkish market, finally! It was great. Tons of fresh produce, all cheap. A stand or two with good cheeses (drool). One stand with delicious looking hummus! Fresh breads and sweets, and some stands with prepared foods. I only regret having eaten before I went, but on Tuesday I won't make the same mistake.
I picked up zucchini, carrots, dill, and green onions to make dinner. Our friend Galka was coming over and she's vegetarian, so I made a zucchini-kimchi quiche with a brown rice crust:

and roasted carrots with dill:

Eric made a salad and we had a great meal. Galka brought the scotch. Eric insisted on drinking rosé though:

And then I passed out at midnight. On a Friday. Haha I'm so cool. But really one of the great things about Berlin is there's a party somewhere every night. So there's no pressure to go out on Friday and Saturday just cause it's the weekend. I'm going out tomorrow though ;)
We got our internet hookup yesterday as well. Skype me, people!
Bis bald,
D.

PS. TUBE CHEESE:

They also sell caviar in tubes. Apparently Germans put it on top of hard-boiled eggs. Eggs on eggs!

Fotos

2009-10-07T05:14:00.001-07:00

Some photos from the past week or so...
Fresh caprese to use up the last of my fresh basil:

Banana chocolate-chunk muffins:

Leningrad Cowboys!:

Viva Las Vegas:

Rock Lobster:

Leningrad Ladis in their skeleton costumes during the encore:

Last night we had a lovely roast dinner at our place. WG KMX descended on our kitchen with food from the Turkish market: three chickens, half a pumpkin, peppers and potatoes, plus some supermarket broccoli. We choppped the veggies (except for the broccoli, which we cooked separately with cheese sauce) and dumped them in a pan with the chickens and a bunch of oil and seasoning. Then we stuck it in the oven for a while. And it turned out delish.
Today it's really warm and sunny! Not many more days like this on the horizon...
Camera Obscura tomorrow :)
Bis bald,
D.

Die Meldebescheinigung

2009-10-06T14:54:00.000-07:00

Ich bin angemeldet! I am registered!
Everyone in Germany has to register their residence with the police/government. You are supposed to do this within 5 business days of moving into a new place. Whoops. It's kinda been two weeks. I gather, though, that many foreigners don't even know about this, and don't do it for months or even years, if they do it at all. The woman I saw today didn't even mention that I was a week or so late.
I was absolutely terrified of German bureaucracy. Wouldn't you be? Luckily there is a smaller, less crowded Bürgeramt in my neighborhood. My flatmate Eric directed me to it, and I went with my other flatmate Josh, who still hasn't registered even though he's been in the apartment since April (see what I mean?). We asked at the desk, and they provided us with three long forms with lots of complicated German, then gave us a number and told us to go to the waiting room. The form was bewildering (if you hate legalese, imagine it in German, or any language that you are not fluent in) and I didn't want to fill it out wrong, so we took it back to get Eric's help, since he's fluent. Turns out you only have to actually fill out maybe 5-10 of the many, many little boxes on the form. Really all they ask for is your name, birthday, and new address. You also need a Mietvertrag (rental contract) or separate form for subletters (Untermietervertrag, that's what I had). Sorting all this out, what with one thing and another, took me about a week but today I finally went back to the office and it was pretty much a piece of cake to turn in the forms and get my stamped "you are registered" bit of paper.
So now I can open a bank account and get a library card. Huzzah! Take that bureaucracy. I totally figured you out.
Bis bald,
D.

Leningrad Cowboys

2009-10-06T05:36:00.000-07:00

The group I went to see last night:
"The Leningrad Cowboys is a Finnish rock and roll band famous for its humorous songs and concerts featuring the Soviet Red Army Choir.
Currently, the band has eleven Cowboys and two Leningrad Ladies. The songs, all somewhat influenced by polka and progressive rock, and performed in English, have themes such as 'vodka', 'tractors', 'rockets', and 'Genghis Khan', as well as folkloric Russian songs, rock and roll ballads and covers from bands as diverse as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Lynyrd Skynyrd, all with lots of humour."
They all wear huge pointy elf shoes and have their hair fashioned into long cones, like unicorn horns. They wear sunglasses and ridiculous coordinated outfits.
Below is a clip of them performing 'Sweet Home Alabama,' which was a crowd-pleaser last night. Except this clip features the Soviet Red Army Choir: "The Red Army Choir (Choir Aleksandrov) is a performing ensemble that served as the official army choir of the former Soviet Union's Red Army. The choir consists of a male choir, an orchestra, and a dance ensemble. The songs they perform range from Russian folk tunes to Church hymns, operatic arias and popular music. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Red Army Choir has continued performing, entertaining audiences both inside and outside Russia."

This one can't be embedded, but check it out for an even better example of the use of the choir.
Also this, as a good idea of their total and complete insanity (not to mention their ginormous fan base):

Last night, they were in fine form in vaguely Spanish costumes. Their two blond 'Leningrad Ladies' were hilarious and danced up a storm. They switched costumes several times: from tight-fitting traditional dresses to tight black leather corsets and skirts to sparkly bodysuits to skeleton bodysuits. They had their hair in smaller unicorn horns.
When they played 'Viva Las Vegas,' one band member came out in a white sparkly Elvis suit to perform the song. The same guy came out in swimtrunks, water wings and a snorkel mask, with a watergun he used on the audience, when they played a vaguely Dick Dale-ish surf song.
At one point, one of the band members came on in a huge, segmented velour lobster outfit complete with multiple dangling arms and claws sticking up behind him. They introduced him as the rock lobster. Curiously they did not then play 'Rock Lobster' but something else entirely.
The crowd was a mix of old and young, with some people having done their hair in the cowboy fashion, and many more wearing cowboy T-shirts. I might or might not have been the youngest person there. It was really good fun though. Utterly ridiculous! I wonder what it takes to become a Leningrad Lady. Possible future career?
Pictures to come.
Bis bald,
D.

Ein Fahrrad und die Küche

2009-10-05T07:50:00.000-07:00

Samstag war der Tag der deutschen Einheit: the day of German unity. This means everything was closed. It also means giant wooden puppets (die Riesen) made their way through the city and apparently all the Berliners get all wide-eyed and squeal like little girls but I didn't actually witness this with my own eyes, unfortunately.
Since it was raining and cold, what I did do was continue my 80s movie education with The Naked Gun and The Goonies (with teeny-tiny Sean Astin!) and eat German-style brunch (essentially cold cuts and bread).
More importantly, I got a bike!!! It's a burgundy kinda color. I'll take a picture and post it later. Even though it's starting to get cold, I think I'm going to bike a lot. It gives a much better idea of the city than taking the train everywhere. Now I'm a real Berliner :)
Yesterday I had more adventures at the grocery store. Usually they're closed on Sundays (annoying) but since Saturday was a holiday they were open...and everyone and their grandmother knew it. The place was a madhouse. It was like the apocalypse or something. Continuing my "weird grocery store discoveries" series, I found that they sell pre-packaged bagels (complete with spreads and toppings), hot dogs and hamburgers (complete with buns), and something called a "Mexican burger" (I don't even want to know) in their meat section. Also, they sell mustard in tubs so large they have handles. Mmmm...
I made it through the fray intact and spent most of the rest of the day in the kitchen. First I attempted hollandaise for the first time unsupervised. I didn't let it thicken quite enough, but it was still delicious on top of a couple toasted english muffins, some ham, and two fried eggs (poached was too much effort). Incidentally I recently found out that "english" muffins were invented in New York. As were, apparently, hot dogs and ice cream cones. These claims, however, are unsubstantiated.
Then I tried out a recipe for banana-chocolate chunk muffins with oats and walnuts and all kinds of goodness. I had heard that they don't sell baking soda here, and indeed they don't. All they have is "backpulver," which is baking powder, in tiny little packets, not boxes as in the states. Making a typical Diana move I decided that I would just add backpulver for both the baking powder and baking soda required by the recipe and see what happened. Miraculously this seems to have worked because the muffins turned out delicious! I'll post a picture later.
One song from the day's soundtrack:

Soon after the muffins were all done a friend came over for dinner and we made penne pasta with mushrooms, onions, peas and tomato sauce. And ate several muffins each. Hahaha.
When he went home I headed down the street to the apartment of my flatmate's brother. When several people share a flat here, it is called a WG (vay-gay). WG stands for Wohngemeinschaft, which means "living community." This particular apartment is on Karl Marx Straße and is known as WG KMX. There, in the big red living room, we drank tea while a couple members of the group played guitar. Occasionally we all added impromptu percussion/vocals. This was one of the songs we sang:

The band, Camera Obscura, is playing in Berlin this Thursday! If all goes well I'm getting tickets tomorrow.
Today I went for a run in the sunshine. Tonight I am seeing the Leningrad Cowboys...more on them tomorrow.
Bis bald,
D.

Krimskrams

2009-10-02T06:40:00.000-07:00

der Krimskrams=odds n ends/bits n bobs
I found the jam. A delicious wildberry medley no less.
I also discovered that among the "things in tubes" variety of foodstuffs is tube-cheese. Being the cheese fanatic that I am I actually purchased a tube of garlic-flavored Käsecreme, much to my roommate's amusement. Verdict: tastes good in the same way that most processed cheeses do, at least to yours truly. I plan to continue to explore the vast selection of cheeses, spreadable and otherwise, available at Kaufland, including bleu cheese which comes in thin slices perfect for sandwiches.
Check out this article about Oktoberfest's Lost&Found (Fundbüro) for a funny perspective on the fest.
And head on over to antlervision for a post about a cool hotel in Berlin I just heard about.
Diese Wochenende kommen die Riesen...
This weekend, every day starting yesterday, giant puppets parade around Berlin acting out a story involving a small giantess reuniting with her rather larger giant uncle at Brandenburger Tor. I plan to check it out, so more on that soon.
Bis bald,
D.

OKTOBERFEST

2009-09-30T05:34:00.000-07:00

Whew...what a weekend.
It's kind of atrocious how few pictures I took. But I'll sprinkle some in here.
Friday night a friend came over for dinner and I cooked chicken cordon bleu, haricot vert, and some really overcooked rice. Then we hung out, went out to Kreuzberg...suddenly it was 5am and I was still out, only sans my sweater which was stolen from the corner I dumped it in while I was dancing. Ah, Berlin.
I woke up 2ish hours later so I could wash the dishes from the night before and pack before heading out to catch the train to München (Munich). I was splitting a multi-person weekend ticket with a guy I found through a very handy rideshare/trainshare website. Thus the ticket cost me only 18eur. Huzzah!
The train ride took 8 hours and required several transfers. I made it to Munich at 9:15pm and headed straight to the tent camp I was staying in at the Olympic Riding Stadium, about 20min S-bahn ride outside the city center. There was a rowdy party going on in the main tent but I just passed out, knowing the next day would be a long one.
Oh and it was.
Munich was beautiful and serene in the 6am morning light:

I followed a group of lederhosen and dirndl-clad revelers towards Oktoberfest, passing workers clearing massive piles of trash along the way. Soon enough...

It was overwhelming, and nothing was even open yet. I was starving hungry, so I wandered for a while trying to find food, but nobody was open. So eventually I joined a line in front of one of the beer tents, Löwen Bräu (Lion's Brew):

Once the tent was open, the lion moved its arms a bit, and drank from its stein, and made strange rumbly noises. I met a group of people outside: lots of ozzies, a canadian, and a californian. At 9am, having waited about 2 hours, they opened the doors and everyone pushed and tried their best to trample each other. Being near the front, we soon had a table, and were off. The beermaid brought us a round right away. As well as a huge hunk of bread with melted cheese on it for my empty stomach!!!
Now by a round, I mean we each had one of these:

That's 2L of beer, roughly 68oz or 8.5cups if the online converter I just used is correct.
Keep in mind: 9 IN THE MORNING.
The beermaids carry up to 10-15 of these at once. When the first round was brought, she put them all on the table, then before she would let anyone drink anything she challenged us each in turn to lift the 6 steins all at once, with one hand. I was the only girl who could do it :) I could so be an Oktoberfest beermaid. Not to mention, I finished my stein before any of the men at the table.

Things continued in this fashion, including some delicious traditional German food, until the late afternoon, when the smoke and the noise and the crowd was just too much. I took a break for a few hours, found a quiet cafe on a side street, drank some water. Then headed back into the fray of Theresienwiese, as they call the big area where Oktoberfest is held (named after the bride at the royal wedding which was the first such fest).
One thing I didn't realize about the fest is that outside the tents is just as exciting (though not as beer-y). They have a ton of amusement park rides and games and food stalls etc. I wandered around with a new friend and checked out some of the rides, which were all expensive. Among the ridiculous things we encountered were this fine specimen of German manhood:

And this fine specimen of German womanhood:

Eventually we settled on this ride:

with this ridiculous painting as part of its decorations (a male statue of liberty kissing a female statue of liberty):

and which had us sailing through the air high above Munich and was all kinds of exhilarating. After that we were ready to party again, so we went back to Löwen Bräu and some of our friends were still there at the same table! We soon got back into the beer-ing and the singing and the swaying as the oompa band played such traditional German classics as "Hey Jude." Swaying in time with 1000s of people, waving a 2L stein and singing that song counts among the highlights of my life.
We closed the tent down and after some drama getting a drunk friend home, I headed back to my little tent and fell asleep.
The next morning I got up at a more reasonable hour and met some friends from the day before for a walking tour of Munich. I took loads of pictures of architecture and they're all rather boring, so I'm not posting any here. Learned a bit about the history of the place. Beautiful buildings, lots of culture and history but I have to say for my money Berlin is more interesting.
The tour ended at a bar where you can get bottomless Bavarian stew and a liter of beer for 9eur. I ended up staying there aaaall afternoon getting drunk with ozzies. We made friends with the bartender (Dave aka pleasant dave aka super dave aka psycho dave) who gave us free drinks and took us to a legit pizza place for dinner. Then we went back to the bar. And he was foolish enough to challenge my tackling abilities. A small cut on my head and a scraped-up elbow later and he knew who was boss.
I kind of wish I had headed back to the Oktoberfest tents again but instead I just hung out at the bar for another couple hours, then back to the camp.
The next morning I hopped a rideshare back to Berlin, and five hours later I was home. This was scrawled in the bathroom in Löwen Bräu tent and I think is a good sum-up:

Beer I love you. Bier ich liebe dich.
Bis bald,
D.

Weinerei

2009-09-24T04:14:00.000-07:00

The Weinerei is famous in Berlin. Everyone I talked to before coming told me I had to try it. Last night I finally did.
Here's how it works: You pay a 2EUR deposit for a wine glass, or champagne glass, or really whatever vessel they happen to have lying around. Then you help yourself to wine. As much as you want. Until you leave, or they close, whichever comes first. As they close at 12, which is extremely early for Berlin nightlife, it is usually the latter.
When you leave, you turn in your glass and get 1EUR of the 2 back. Then you pay "what you think you should" for the wine you drank.
Here's what I learned: you can only actually pay what you want if you have exact change. Otherwise they harass you. I needed to break a tenner. I had had three glasses of cheap champagne. To my mind, 3EUR was generous. But the woman said, "That's too less." And the asshole American dude next to me drunkenly slurred, "Thas true. four-a-five is good..." So I accepted the 5EUR note offered to me as change.
Note to self: next time, bring exact change.
Afterwards we went to the Kulturberei, which is a complex of clubs and restaurants in Prenzlauer Berg. When you go out to a club or party, usually it costs a few euros to get in. When you pay at the door, they stamp the inside of your wrist so you can go in and out (this is handy when you don't want to pay for expensive drinks and instead run down to the corner 'Späti' (short for Spätkauf, 'late-buy', they're open 24hrs) for beers which, don't forget, you can drink on the street or anywhere else you please). Thus after a night out I often end up with a few different stamps on my wrists. They don't come off easily either, so at this point I seem always to have a couple faded stamps on my inner wrists. It kinda feels cool. I can see why inner-wrist tattoos are popular. But I get to change mine every night.
Bis bald,
D.

Der Supermarkt

2009-09-24T04:00:00.000-07:00

Adventures in grocery shopping...
My U-Bahn (subway) stop is right next to a big mall with a huge basement grocery store called Kaufland (buy-land). It is open until 10. This is quite convenient.
They don't have hand-baskets. Just carts. You have to leave a 1EUR deposit to rent one.
In the produce section, you get to put your selections on a little scale, press the button for the right product (I've bought a lot of "Rispentomaten," continuing my summer tomato obsession) and it will print out a neat little label that they can scan at the register. I didn't know this the first time and received some very theatrical sighs from the cashier when she had to go price my grapes herself.
You can get drinkable wine for 1.5EUR, and teeny little bottles of vodka for the drinker-on-the-go. They sell mayo, mustard, ketchup, horseradish and lord knows what else in toothpaste tubes. You can buy yogurt in buckets so big they have handles. There is only one brand of hamburger bun, and it has a big American flag on the package. 'Bio' (bee-oh) means organic.
I cannot for the life of me find the jam. It must be there somewhere. I know Germans eat jam.
When you pay, you are expected to a) have your own bag, b) buy a canvas tote for 45 cents, or c) pay extra for a plastic bag. I like this system.
I have yet to explore Berlin's many outdoor markets/market halls. I'm sure that will be an experience as well!
Bis bald,
D.

Die Kurznachrichten

2009-09-23T05:26:00.000-07:00

Days of the week in German: Sonntag, Montag, Dienstag, Mittwoch, Donnerstag, Freitag, Samstag
So.: Emerged from the club we had been dancing in at 7am. Realized it was the day of the Berlin marathon, so went to go check out the start of it near the Reichstag. Eventually arrived home at 10:30am. Strangely still not tired. Ate breakfast on the balcony, slept for two hours, showered, and did yoga on the roof in the sunshine. In the evening, saw 'Die Unendliche Geschichte' (The Neverending Story) for the first time.
Mo.: Work, work, work...then a conference at Martin Gropius Bau about Bauhaus in the 21st century. In the auditorium they have classic Bauhaus tubular steel chairs in auditorium seating format--that is, in connected rows with fold-down seats. That was pretty neat. The reception after had free food and booze, bonus. Passed out as soon as I got home.
Di.: Work. Dinner at the neighbor's (bruschetta and burgers, an interesting combo). Then out to a party in an old Stasi (Nazi secret police) office building. It was a cool event.
Mi.: Spent the morning at the Modell Bauhaus exhibit at the Martin Gropius Bau learning all about Bauhaus and checking out Christine Hill's "Build Your Own Bauhaus" installation. Plus a small show on Le Corbusier with many of his original wooden models! This afternoon, I'm headed to the preview of Art Forum Berlin, a huge art show along the lines of the Frieze art fair in London.
Bis bald,
D.

Verlassen in West Berlin

2009-09-21T03:36:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we went on a roomie adventure. The plan was to explore some abandoned buildings on the highest hill in Berlin, Teufelsberg. To do so, we took the bus through West Berlin, along Kurfürstendamm (or Ku'damm), a long fancy shopping street. It was like being in a completely different city. Ku'damm is so commercial, so shiny and blank and character-less. It was really interesting to see a totally different side to a city that I thought I was really getting to know.
The bus continued west and eventually we passed outside the ring bahn (generally considered the outer limits of the city center) and into a quiet, green suburban area with lots of big mansions called Grunewald (green forest). We got off at the end of the line, then walked through the woods a bit before heading up the hill. Once at the top, we made our way into the broken-down and graffiti-covered building, heading slowly upwards until we reached the roof terrace, on which are two massive geodesic domes covered with ripped white fabric and a tall tower with another dome on top of it, also all covered in ripped white fabric, blowing in the wind. We kept heading up, stopping at every floor of the tower to explore the graffiti and check out the ever-more-terrifying (yet beautiful) views. Eventually we made it to the top dome, which is totally sealed to the outside except for one rectangular opening. The sound quality in there was very echo-y and eerie. We sat and took it in for a while before heading back down. Here are some pics of the place:

Apparently there are a lot of abandoned buildings in Berlin. Eric & Josh got a few of the apartment's accoutrements (including the ladder we use to get to the roof) from an abandoned hospital. They also once threw a party in an abandoned Iraqi embassy, and there's an abandoned amusement park not too far from our place. I can't wait to explore those places too.
Bis bald,
D.

Abendsessen & Sonnenuntergang

2009-09-18T05:59:00.000-07:00

Last night I also made my first dinner in the apartment. I've only done limited grocery shopping, but I cobbled together a grilled panini on a baguette, with goat cheese Babybels (!!! a new discovery), sliced tomato, fresh basil (I bought a plant for my windowsill) and thin ham, plus a salad with mixed greens, tomato, kidney beans and chickpeas dressed with olive oil and balsamic. I sat on the balcony to eat and it was very relaxing. Below, my sandwich:

And the sunset views from the roof:

Bis bald,
D.

Jazz usw

2009-09-18T04:03:00.000-07:00

usw=und so weiter=etcetera
On Wednesday I went to the weekly live jazz show at a small underground bar (more of a brick bunker really) in Mitte (central Berlin). A friend of mine who goes every week invited me. The guys in the jazz group are so awesome, you can see how much they love just doin their thang. The banjo player was really great, so was the violinist, and the trumpet player cracked me up. It was fun. And I scandalized all the Germans when I drank a beer bigger than my head. Afterwards we went and swing-danced, which I have never done before but always wanted to try. I managed not to fall over, so that was good.
There was also good news at work, a big project in the works, so yesterday we had this big meeting about it and things around the office are a little more busy now (which isn't saying much, haha).
Last night I went to the opening of the Thomas Demand show at the Neue Nationalgalerie. Almost everyone there was extremely well-dressed; it was good people-watching. I love how you can just wander around here with a glass of wine or bottle of beer in your hand. People were mingling outside the gallery just like an outdoor cocktail party. It's not an uncommon sight to see someone walking around with an open beer bottle sticking out of their coat pocket or hopping on the train with beer in hand. In fact in the evenings it almost seems out of place to be on the train without a beer, haha. My kinda town.
Bis bald,
D.

Fotos der Wohnung

2009-09-15T07:23:00.000-07:00

Moved in yesterday!
Here are some pics of the place.
What you see when you walk in the door (the hallway could use some decorations, haha):

Two views of the kitchen, which has great vintage cabinets in which are hidden a fridge and freezer:

Eric's room/the living room with the balcony beyond:

View from the balcony (it's even nicer at night with the Rathaus all lit up):

What you see when you walk in my room:

The view from my window:

I'm happy to finally be settled!
Bis bald,
D.

Fotos

2009-09-14T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hm, I am going out to meet my grandma at the falafel shop on the corner for a beer, what to wear, what to wear?!? I know! My high-waisted denim short-shorts and denim cutoff vest with boots and no shirt! It's perfect!

This is the old post office. It is adorned with an underwear ad which appears to be depicting a hot scantily-clad crucifixion. Don't ask me:

Brandenburg Gate:

Just a pretty picture:

Reichstag:

Holocaust Memorial:

Crazies on stage at Major Lazer:

And one of graffiti, out of many I have taken:

I'll put more on my flickr in future but right now I'm having trouble signing in.
Bis bald,
D.

Ich habe eine Wohnung gefunden!

2009-09-14T07:03:00.000-07:00

I heard back from Moritz, the freelance photographer of option 3 below (most of you guessed right!) and he said though he liked me better, a Canadian guy had outbid me. I made a counteroffer, but the Canadian guy upped it again and Moritz accepted. I found this out yesterday morning and was back to square one, so I spent almost the entire day on my computer looking for more places and emailing/calling people about them. I went to see a couple in the early evening before meeting a friend for a movie (Army of Darkness by the way, it was fantastic) and one was right down the street from Moritz's place. Two guys: an Australian film projector (cool profession, eh?) and a Canadian German-English translator, both young and chill. Big balcony, roof access, decent bathroom, big kitchen, and my room is quite large as well. We got along great and an hour or so later they called and offered me the room. It's not quite so nicely decorated as Moritz's but it will be comfortable, not to mention fun, not to mention much cheaper. They love the neighborhood and tell me I have nothing to worry about in that regard. I canceled my extra nights at the hostel and tomorrow is moving day!
I'll post pics soon.
Bis bald,
D.

In Schwimmenden Fett

2009-09-14T06:25:00.000-07:00

The title is how the Germans say 'deep fried.' It means literally 'in swimming fat.' At least they're honest.
Incidentally I am writing this from work and German keyboards are just ever so slightly different in frustrating ways. The Y and Z are switched and the use of an apostrophe requires pushing shift, among other things.
Anyway the title is something of a reference to Saturday's dinner at The Bird, an American bar and restaurant known for its burgers. I met with Marco from Stanford, who left yesterday, for his last burger at a place he went to every Friday and Sunday all summer (way to experience the local culture, haha). I had a huuuge patty melt which was messy and delicious and then capped it off with cheesecake and Jameson, Marco's 'traditional' dessert. I have to say the cheesecake might have been the best I ever had, and the whiskey was a nice compliment. As we wandered (or rather waddled) vaguely bar-ward after, I happened to run into a father-son pair who were on my tour, so we went to a Biergarten with them. Then we met some of Marco's work friends at a bar where the walls are lined with bed-like platforms. It was a good chill night.
Bis bald,
D.

Zum Geburtstag viel Glück!

2009-09-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was insane!
I started an all-day walking tour at 10.30am which ended up taking 7 hours. It was great, got a "greatest hits" Berlin overview and met some nice folks to boot.
So I walked all over town and wore out my feet. Then I wore out my feet some more getting lost on the way to see a couple apartments. My rugby teammate came into town and we met at her friend's place for a BBQ which was out on the balcony and super fun. Then we headed out to find WMF Club to see Paul Devro and Major Lazer. We got really really lost. But when we found it Major Lazer was just going on...yay DIPLO! Being rugby players Chris and I pushed to the front, where I shook my booty so awesomely that they pulled me up on stage. Mind you, I was still wearing the same ratty jeans and T-shirt I had done the walking tour in and my feet really should have hurt but...I guess I am just that baller. I did my thang onstage for the entire set, dancing around and pumpin up the crowd while Chris took pics (Pic post coming soon!) It was a majorly lazerly epic birthday celebration :)
Gotta run!
bis bald,
D.

Wohnungen

2009-09-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

die Wohnung=apartment
I have seen 4 apartments in the last couple days and am seeing two more tomorrow. I have, however, already found the one I want and have told the landlord/lady I want it. I am just waiting for him/her to decide if I get it. Can you guess which one it is?
Listed in the order I saw them:

OPTION 1: 1 member of a 5-person residential art collective. Big room to myself to which I could do whatever I want. Small and dark bathroom & kitchen, inconvenient location. Basement performance/exhibit space. Creativity & Community.

OPTION 2: Live alone in a small but cool apartment in a somewhat isolated neighborhood. Cool decorations and good dusk-time view of bats swooping around the courtyard.

OPTION 3: Live with a freelance photographer and his cat in a newly renovated apartment with kooky homemade art and vintage furniture. Located in a neighborhood that some think is unsafe and uncultured, but younger people tend to think is hip and underground (I liked what I saw of it). Big sunny bedroom for me and access to the balcony.

OPTION 4: Live with two older people, one of whom seems kinda whacko, and a cat in a sunny room with sloping windows in an attic apartment. Interior decoration questionable at best. Main living space is gloomy. Funny story: the guy who I would be taking over the room from happens to be someone I knew at Stanford! Small world.

Which will it be?!? There are also two more being seen tomorrow, so...stay tuned!
Bis bald,
D.

Zweiten & Dritten Tage

2009-09-09T12:41:00.000-07:00

Having slept for most of my first day I resolved to get out and get to know Berlin. This means: I have been walking a helluva lot. Everywhere. For hours at a time. One thing I have learned is that this city is hella spread out. When I look at maps and plan my routes, it always takes waaay longer than I think it is going to to actually walk those routes. I've been using the U-Bahn (subway equivalent) for which my many years of blank NY subway staring has well prepared me, but even so I am not getting around efficiently all the time. I will have to brave the S-bahn at some point I guess. And I'll have to follow the advice of nearly everyone I've talked to and get a bike. Then I'll be a 'real Berliner' apparently. The traffic here is nuts though. I'm kind of terrified of diving into it on a bike.
Speaking of bikes, they are (as you might imagine) absolutely everywhere and the city infrastructure is well prepared for this. There are bike lanes on every street and even bike stoplights at big intersections. the craziest though is that large swaths of sidewalk are designated for bikes only. I had read in a guidebook that these exist, but even so I seem to have trouble avoiding them. I just kind of drift into them without thinking and then someone rings their little bike bell furiously (if it's even possible for one of those things to sound furious) and I have to scoot out of the way , blushing. I guess having lived in NY for so long I have a certain sense of entitlement when it comes to sidewalk space. Going to have to get over that one.
I went into the office for the first time today, just for a couple hours, and it occurred to me that I have only given the barest-bones explanation of what my internship actually is. I don't know if it will help, but check out the company's website, which is unfortunately currently under construction, and watch some of the "productions." Basically they're videos of art pieces, but it's designed to encourage close, prolonged looking.
There are all kinds of exciting applications for this and I'm excited by the possibilities, especially those that play into my long-standing interest in art marketing; that is, how art is marketed to the public.
The apartment search is underway and returning encouraging results. Tomorrow I'll post on the options I'm considering.
Bis bald,
D.

Wilkommen in Berlin!

2009-09-07T09:33:00.001-07:00

I arrived in Berlin at 7am this morning, having flown from NY via Düsseldorf. The flight was fine, I slept, I ate, I watched The Hangover (again). Communicated with the flight attendants mostly in German, with a couple small hiccups. I've got to learn not to get that deer-in-headlights look when I don't understand something right away. Usually I know intuitively what they mean, but I'm not sure so I end up with this gaping bug-eyed look on my face that makes everyone switch immediately to English. It's embarassing! Still, trying to be optimistic about my ability to function in German. Succeeded in speaking only German with the taxi driver, so that was my little success for the day.
Nervous about finding an apartment, but trying to stay calm, which is never an easy task for me, haha!
After a six-hour nap, hoping I'll be able to sleep tonight. Certainly feel tired enough.
Bis bald,
D.